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

旁 is the place at the edge. 旁边 the spot by the wall; 旁观 the onlooker who will not step in — the stance the philosopher distrusts. 旁人 the others with no stake. The word is the margin of the event, the witness and the stranger both. To be 旁 is to see without entering, to stand where the story passes you by.

Common words & phrases

• 旁边 beside · side
• 路旁 roadside
• 身旁 beside
• 旁观 look on
• 旁人 others · bystanders

Read the story behind the character

旁边 is the seat you 占; 路旁 the vendor. 身旁 the phone; 旁观 the scroll-past. 旁人 the neighbors who 议论. The word marks the edge of every scene — the crowd at the crash, the friend at the bar. To be 旁 is to watch the thing happen to someone else, close enough to see, far enough not to act.