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 traditional form joined ice and a cord's end, 凍, the hard stop of cold. The Odes note a 凍 ground that would not take the seed. A man 凍死 on the pass was counted in the spring roll. The word was the season's grip, plain and final, written with the older ice.

Common words & phrases

• 冻结 freeze · frozen
• 冷冻 freeze · refrigerate
• 冰冻 frozen · ice
• 冻疮 chilblain

Read the story behind the character

The pipe 凍結 in the night; the food is 凍結 for the week. The pond is 冰凍, skated on by dawn. A stray 凍瘡, chilblain, on the ear. The word means a lock and a chill — the same cold that holds the pump and the child's fingers, written in the old hand.