The Calligrapher — Ráo Jiè 饶介

Yuan cursive master famed as a founder of the Wu gate school.

Yuan calligrapher (), master of cursive script — known for 《草书诗》. Yuan dynasty

Etymology & Meaning · 字义溯源

2 · The Character: 托 Tuō (1st tone). The Shuowen records the base 託: 「託，寄也。从言乇聲」 — to entrust, from 言 (words) with 乇 (zhé) for sound; simplified 托 adds the hand (扌) for 'to hold up / support'. Classical: 《楚辞·招魂》 「东方不可以托些」 (cannot entrust oneself to the east); 《战国策·赵策》 「自托于赵」 (entrust oneself to Zhao); and 托 is 'to rely on' (托福) or 'to make excuse' (推托). Grading: 托 reads as 'entrust / hold up / rely on' and is positive (托福 = thanks to you); but 推托 means 'to fob off / make pretext', a negative shade. Stands alone reasonably as 'to hold / entrust'. Disclose the 'pretext' sense. Element assigned by radical convention (verify).

Cultural Story

托 is the palm offered up — to hold, to commission, to plead. The letters of the Six Dynasties use 托 for the trust placed in a friend, and 寄托 is the hope lodged in another. The hand with 乇, a sprout, is the support given a growing thing. It is the bearing and the entrusting.

Where a Western reader can stand: Where a Western reader can stand: 托 is the open hand — the Latin manus that both supports and receives a trust; 托福 is literally 'thanks to your fortune'. Honest caveat: the same 托福 names the TOEFL English test for younger Chinese readers, and 推托 means 'to fob off with an excuse' — know the shades. Rao Jie's flowing running-cursive, from the man who taught a generation of masters, makes the entrust-reading feel as natural as the gesture it names.

Common words & phrases

• 托付 to entrust
• 委托 to commission
• 寄托 place hope in
• 托福 thanks to you · TOEFL
• 烘托 to set off

Read the story behind the character

托 is the arrangement: 托付 the child left with a neighbour, 委托 the lawyer retained, 寄托 the dream in the move abroad. 托福 is the thanks you give the host, and the test named for it. 烘托 is the backdrop that sets the subject off. It names the support given and the favor returned.

Why this character belongs on skin

The palm turns up. Something precious is laid into it, and the hand agrees to hold — tuō is to entrust, to support, to carry another's weight for a while. It is the nurse's hands, the friend who takes your chaos and says leave it, the moment trust becomes physical. We are so busy being strong we forget the holiness of being the one who receives. To carry tuō is to mark yourself as safe to be given to, the person others lay their frailty on and find upheld. It is a quiet honor, worn close. Let this character rest on the open palm of your skin, the place that has caught what others could not hold, a small altar of the trust you were worthy of.