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

Tao Yuanming's fisherman finds a hidden valley where "the houses stand 俨然" — neat and composed, in good order. The "Odes" too praise a beauty "硕大且俨," stately and dignified. The word 儼 named the held posture, the look of something set right and taking itself seriously, whether a roofline or a bearing.

Common words & phrases

• 俨然 just like · dignified
• 俨如 as if · seem like

Read the story behind the character

The hall stands 俨然 for the ceremony; the portrait is 俨如 the man himself. The word still means the composed and the seeming — a row of buildings, a likeness — the air of order and dignity caught in a single glance, in the chapel, the gallery, and the old photograph kept on the desk.