一
one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1)
Closest English meanings
one
The Calligrapher — Shì Huáirén 释怀仁
Tang monk who compiled Wang Xizhi's script into the Sacred Teachings stele.
Tang calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 集王羲之行书《圣教序》. Tang dynasty
Cultural Story
The simplest stroke in the language, a single horizontal line, and yet the 說文 calls it the beginning of all numbers. Laozi opens the 道德經 noting that from one comes two, from two comes three, and from three the ten thousand things. A child learning to write lifts the brush and this is the first mark, before any meaning, just the fact of a line drawn on paper.
Common words & phrases
- 一样 same · alike
- 一起 together
- 一定 certainly · sure
- 一切 everything · all
- 一直 always · continuously
- 一些 some · a few
Read the story behind the character
Today 一 hides in plain sight: 一样 means the same, 一起 together, 一定 certainly. On a Beijing bus a conductor counts 一张票; a friend texts 一起吃饭 tonight. The number itself anchors prices, 一元 for a street bun. It is the cheapest, most common character in the language, yet it does the heaviest lifting, tagging sameness, company, and certainty before a sentence even gets going.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Shì Huáirén 释怀仁, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.