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

張 is to bend the bow and string it — the drawn weapon, then any spreading open. 張良 was the strategist who bent empires without drawing a blade, and the character kept his reach: to open, to post, to stretch a thing until it shows its full face.

Common words & phrases

• 张开 open · spread · unfold · extend
• 张扬 make public · show off · publicize
• 张望 look around · peer · glance about
• 紧张 nervous · tense · strained · uptight
• 主张 advocate · view · stand · opinion
• 张贴 post up · paste up · put up · placard

Read the story behind the character

紧张 is the sweat before the interview, 张贴 the notice someone tapes to the door, 主张 the opinion a columnist will not soften, 张望 the glance over a crowded platform. The bow is a nerve and a poster now; we still draw things open, often to see what frightens us.