The Calligrapher — Wáng Yì 王廙

Jin calligrapher, uncle and teacher of Wang Xizhi; master of running and cursive script

Jin calligrapher (), master of running script/cursive script/regular script — known for 王羲之叔父. Jin dynasty

Cultural Story

服 is the worn and the borne. 衣服 the clothes; 服务 the service. 服从 the obedience; 服药 the medicine taken. 征服 the subduing; 服用 the ingest. The word is the cloth and the yoke — the robe, the duty, the dose. The Shuowen sees the hand on the cloth. A single character for the worn, the served, and the swallowed, all a kind of bearing.

Common words & phrases

• 衣服 clothes · clothing
• 服务 service · serve
• 服从 obey · submit to
• 服药 take medicine
• 征服 conquer · subdue
• 服用 take · use · ingest

Read the story behind the character

衣服 is the cart; 服务 the desk. 服从 the rule; 服药 the dose. 征服 the pitch; 服用 the label. The word runs the shop and the body — the garment, the submit. From the mall to the prescription, 服 is the worn and the borne, the shirt you buy and the order you keep, the cloth on the back and the medicine down the throat, both a bearing of what is given.

Why this character belongs on skin

The first time you bow, something in you dies and something else is born. 服 was ancient clothing—the robes a subject wore before a king—but it also meant to yield, to let the larger thing have its way. The Confucians built a whole civilization on this word: not cowering, but the earned deference of a warrior who knows when to kneel. There is honor in service; the soldier who obeys the order that may cost him everything is not less free, he is more. Think of the river that submits to the mountain's shape and therefore outlasts it. To wear 服 is to admit you answer to something—a love, a discipline, a god you cannot name. It is the collar you choose, not the one forced on you. Let it sit at your throat like a quiet vow. Some marks are uniforms; this one is a promise you made to a power greater than your own pride.