The Calligrapher — Xiè Ān 谢安

Jin statesman and calligrapher famed for running script; participant in the Lanting Gathering.

Jin calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 《中郎帖》. Jin dynasty

Cultural Story

锅 sets the metal radical beside 呙 and names the round vessel that holds the fire's heat. From the wok to the cauldron it is the centre of the hearth, the vessel in which a household's daily meal is coaxed from raw stuff by patient heat.

Common words & phrases

• 铁锅 iron pot · wok
• 火锅 hotpot · chafing dish
• 锅盖 pot lid · cover
• 砂锅 casserole · earthen pot
• 炒锅 wok · frying pan
• 锅铲 wok spatula · spatula

Read the story behind the character

A 铁锅 or 炒锅 fries the evening meal; a 火锅 bubbles at the shared table, and a 砂锅 slow-cooks. The 锅盖 traps the steam, the 锅铲 turns the food. 锅 is where family and flavour are made.

Why this character belongs on skin

Metal with a fire beneath and someone hungry waiting: 锅, the pot, the wok—the vessel at the center of every Chinese kitchen and every Chinese family. Call a room 起锅, hear the oil catch, and you have called everyone to the table. The character is humble; its power is not. Around a single 锅 gather the oldest human ceremonies: the soup for the sick, the dumplings for the new year, the midnight noodles after the funeral, the feast after the wedding. Civilization is, in part, the history of putting heat under metal. To wear 锅 is to claim the hearth-keeper's role—the one who feeds people, who turns strangers into guests, whose door always smells like something good. Not every crown is worn on the head.