The Calligrapher — Wǔ Zétiān 武则天

Tang empress who wrote the Shengxian Taizi Stele, the first cursive-script stele by a woman.

Tang calligrapher (), master of cursive script — known for 《升仙太子碑》. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

替 is the change of hands. 代替 the stand-in; 替代 the swap. 替身 the double who takes the blow; 交替 the turn about. The word is the relief and the loss — the one stepping in, the one stepped over. The Shuowen sees the absent and the fill. A single character for the exchange, the body or the post given to another, the old let go for the new.

Common words & phrases

• 代替 replace · substitute
• 替代 replace · substitute
• 替身 substitute · stand-in
• 交替 alternate
• 替补 substitute · reserve

Read the story behind the character

代替 is the quick fix; 替代 the app. 替身 the stuntman; 交替 the season. 替补 the bench. The word runs the workaround and the bench — the stand-in, the sub. From the patch to the lineup, 替 is the swap and the cover, the double who falls and the relief who rises, both a hand passing the load to another, the old released as the new takes the weight.