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

In his letter to Ren An, Sima Qian opens with 仆 — "your servant" — the humble word a man used of himself before a friend or a throne. The "Records of the Historian" are thus signed in self-deprecation. To call oneself 僕 was the learned posture of lowliness, a courtesy that cost nothing and conceded everything.

Common words & phrases

• 仆人 servant
• 仆从 footman · retinue · flunkey
• 女仆 maid · housemaid
• 公仆 public servant

Read the story behind the character

A hotel rings for the 仆人; the 女仆 cleans the floor by noon. The official is hailed as a 公仆, a servant of the public, on the poster. The word still means the one who serves — a maid, a footman, a pledged official — the hand beneath the task, whether hired, born into it, or merely promised in a speech.