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

Jia Yi's 过秦论 praises Meng Tian for driving the Xiongnu back “七百余里” — seven hundred li — a 却 written in the dust of the frontier. 退却 is the army's step back; 却步 the flinch before a high gate. 冷却 the steel in the trough, 忘却 the grief a year wears thin. The word is the draw of the breath.

Common words & phrases

• 退却 retreat · withdraw
• 冷却 cool down · cooling
• 忘却 forget · obliterate
• 却步 step back · shrink
• 了却 settle · finish · dispose of

Read the story behind the character

A unit 退却 in a drill; 冷却 is the laptop fan's job. 忘却 is the wish a song grants, 却步 the pause at a price tag, and 了却 the debt a son finally pays. The word steps from the battlefield to the checkout — the small retreats a day is made of.