元
surname Yuan; Yuan dynasty (1279–1368); currency unit (esp. Chinese yuan); (bound form) first; original; primary; (bound form) basic; fundamental; (bound form) constituent; part; (prefix) meta-; (math.) argument; variable; era (of a reign); (Tw) (geology) eon
Closest English meanings
origin·dollar·primary
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 "Spring and Autumn" begins each reign with 元年 — "the first year," the duke's starting point, as the "Gongyang" commentary explains, "the beginning of the lord's years." The "Changes" ranks 元 first among the four virtues, the primal force before 亨, 利, 贞. The word 元 was the source from which a count or a cosmos commenced.
Common words & phrases
- 元旦 New Year's Day
- 元素 element
- 公元 A.D. · common era
- 元首 head of state · chief
- 单元 unit · module
Read the story behind the character
The city greets 元旦 with fireworks; a chemist names the 元素 on the chart. The era counts 公元 for the date, and the state names its 元首 in the paper. A flat is one 单元 in the block. The word still means the first — a year, a substance, a head — the origin point from which everything else is numbered.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Yán Zhēnqīng 颜真卿, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.