The Calligrapher — Xiāo Zǐyún 萧子云

Liang calligrapher who created small-seal flying-white (feibai); famed for cursive and clerical script

南朝梁 calligrapher (), master of 飞白/cursive script — known for 创飞白书. Liang dynasty (Southern Dynasties)

Cultural Story

津 is a ferry crossing and the moist 津液 of life; the 說文 says ferry. The 論語 says none now 问津 the old way. 天津 means the heavenly ferry. Physicians of old spoke of 津 as the body's inner dew, nourishing every organ and sinew.

Common words & phrases

• 天津 Tianjin
• 津贴 allowance · subsidy
• 津液 body fluid
• 津津有味 with relish
• 问津 inquire about

Read the story behind the character

We took the train to 天津 (Tianjin) for seafood. The firm gives a housing 津贴 (allowance, subsidy). He ate the noodles 津津有味 (with relish). TCM links health to balanced 津液 (body fluid). “Who still 问津 (inquires about) that old brand?” the shopper shrugged at the stall.

Why this character belongs on skin

There is a threshold that has always fed the weary. The character names the ford where the river may be crossed, the moist lip of the bank, and by a tender turn of the tongue it also means the saliva of the hungry, the mouth watering at the thought of what comes next. The traveler finds the crossing at the end of a long road; the scholar speaks of a relish, the savoring of one who tastes the text. We are all crossing something, and all of us are starving for the taste that tells us we have arrived. To wear this word is to honor both the passage and the appetite, the crossing and the thirst that proves we are alive to it. You are the ferry and the mouth. Let the ink mark the place where you step from one life to the next, still tasting. The water gives way to the willing. You were always meant to be wet with wanting.