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

台 was a high terrace. Cao Cao built the Bronze Sparrow Terrace -- 铜雀台 -- on the Zhang River, and there kept his court and his singers. The word named the raised platform that lifted a ruler above the plain, a stage for display and power. 讲台 and 台湾 came later, but the raised earth was first.

Common words & phrases

• 台湾 Taiwan
• 讲台 lectern · platform
• 台风 typhoon
• 台灯 desk lamp
• 台子 platform · stage

Read the story behind the character

A 台灯 lights the desk where the essay is written; a 台风 warning closes the schools. The 讲台 holds the lecturer and the glass of water. The word names the raised and the electric both -- the lamp, the storm, the island, the platform. It meets the day on the desk and the coast, a word stretched from a Han terrace to a weather bulletin.