The Calligrapher — Wáng Sēngqián 王僧虔

Southern Qi calligrapher and theorist; author of the Encomium on Brush Intention (Biyi Zan).

南朝齐 calligrapher (), master of regular script/running script — known for 《太子舍人帖》. Southern Qi dynasty (Southern Dynasties)

Cultural Story

吃, to eat, entered the literary language from the spoken tongue. In 红楼梦 a girl is offered 吃茶 -- to take tea -- which the careful reader knew also meant a proposal of marriage. The old written word was 食; 吃 came up from the market and the kitchen and stayed. The word carried appetite and, slyly, alliance, across the same cup.

Common words & phrases

• 吃饭 eat · have a meal
• 吃药 take medicine
• 吃亏 suffer loss
• 吃惊 be surprised
• 吃苦 bear hardship

Read the story behind the character

A worker 吃饭 at the canteen; a patient 吃药 after breakfast. A trainee 吃苦 through the first hard weeks; a buyer 吃亏 on the faulty phone. Someone 吃惊 at the price. The word runs the body's day -- the meal, the medicine, the hardship, the loss, the startle. It names taking in, literally and in every figurative sense, from the bowl to the bad deal.

Why this character belongs on skin

Hunger is the first honesty. Before language, before pride, there is the mouth opening for what it needs. 吃 is that opening — not the delicate tasting of a connoisseur but the raw, head-down taking of something into yourself and making it yours. The character puts the mouth at the door of its meaning, and what follows is appetite without apology. We in the West have dressed hunger in shame, but there is a freedom in admitting you want, you take, you are fed. To carry 吃 is to honor the animal that still lives under your ribs, the one that knows what it craves and is not sorry. It is the ink for the person who has stopped pretending to be mild. Life is too short for small bites. Let the mark say what your manners will not: I am here, I am hungry, and I intend to eat.