The Calligrapher — Yán Zhēnqīng 颜真卿

Tang master of robust regular script; co-creator of the enduring 'Yan style'.

Tang calligrapher (709–784), master of regular script/running script — the Tang moral paragon whose upright, muscular regular script became the model of Chinese integrity in writing. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

The dynastic histories reach for 伟 to mark a man of commanding presence, the phrase 伟丈夫 recurring in biographies from the Han histories onward. A general who stood tall and spoke with weight was 伟; the word measured stature and force of character together. To call a man 伟 was to say the room bent toward him.

Common words & phrases

• 伟大 great · mighty · grand
• 宏伟 grand · magnificent · imposing
• 伟业 great cause · great undertaking
• 伟人 great man · eminent person
• 雄伟 majestic · grand · imposing

Read the story behind the character

A newspaper calls a rescue 伟大; a skyline shows 宏伟 towers in the evening light. The engineer's 伟业 is the bridge now carrying trains. A 伟人's portrait hangs in the school hall. The word still crowns the large and the laudable — a building, a deed, a life — though it now sits on posters more often than on stone.