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 Diamond Sutra, the 金刚经, takes its name from the 金刚, the thunderbolt that cuts all delusion. A dated copy pulled from the Dunhuang caves in 1900 is the earliest printed book with a year on it, 868 CE, its pages still sharp. The character 刚 is the hard that does not bend, the edge of a vow.

Common words & phrases

• 刚才 just now · a moment ago · recently · just
• 刚刚 just · barely · only just · exactly
• 刚强 firm · strong · unyielding · resolute
• 刚毅 firm · resolute · steely · strong
• 金刚 diamond · Vajra · indestructible · strong
• 刚直 upright · honest · straightforward · just

Read the story behind the character

He arrived 刚才, just before the bell. The 金刚 at the temple gate wears a painted scowl. Her 刚强 manner holds the family through the lawsuit. The 刚直 clerk refuses the bribe. The word names the just-now and the unbending, the firm line drawn in a day.