The Calligrapher — Wáng Xīzhī 王羲之

The 'Sage of Calligraphy'; his running script has set the standard for 1,700 years.

Eastern Jin calligrapher (303–361), master of running script/cursive script/regular script — the Sage of Calligraphy; his Orchid Pavilion Preface is the most celebrated work in the tradition, and nearly every later master traces lineage to his hand. Eastern Jin dynasty

Cultural Story

引 is to draw the bow — not loose it, only pull it back. 孟子 praised the archer who 引而不发, holding the shot to teach the stance, and the word kept that patient pull: to lead, to draw out, to bring something toward you without yet letting go.

Common words & phrases

• 引起 cause · arouse · give rise to · lead to
• 吸引 attract · draw · fascinate
• 引导 guide · lead · direct · steer
• 引用 quote · cite · reference
• 指引 guide · show the way · direct
• 引言 introduction · preface · foreword

Read the story behind the character

引起 is the spark a memo says started the fire, 吸引 the view that sells the apartment, 引用 the line a thesis footnotes, 引言 the page before the argument. The drawn bow is now a hyperlink and a crowd; we still pull things toward us, mostly with a thumb.

Why this character belongs on skin

The bow is drawn and the string sings—引 is to pull, to lead, to draw out what was coiled within. The character shows a bow and the line that stretches it; to 引 is to attract, to guide, to extend a hand and feel the other take it. Lovers are 引d together; a melody 引s the tears up; a leader 引s the reluctant forward. The word holds both the pull and the permission to be pulled. A tattoo of 引 is for the one who knows the gravity of connection, who has felt the string tighten and chosen not to loose it. Let it rest along the forearm or the throat. It says you draw and are drawn, that isolation was never the whole story, and that the arrow, once drawn, finds its mark in the world beyond you.