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

淳 means pure and unmixed, like clear uncorrupted water; Laozi prized 淳 simplicity over cunning. Village folk were praised as 淳朴 (simple and honest), and a 淳厚 (sincere) friend was worth more than gold. The surname 淳于 appears in Warring States records, and 淳化 meant to purify the people's customs and habits.

Common words & phrases

• 淳朴 simple and honest · unsophisticated · rustic
• 淳厚 honest · simple · sincere
• 淳美 pure and beautiful · simple and fine
• 淳于 Chunyu · a surname
• 淳化 purify · refine · place name

Read the story behind the character

Grandpa's 淳朴 (simple and honest) manners charm the city nephews, and the 淳厚 (honest, sincere) neighbor returns your lost wallet. The 淳美 (pure and fine) mountain honey sells out at the fair. A 淳于 (Chunyu) classmate laughs that her rare surname always gets misspelled on the class roster.

Why this character belongs on skin

Chún is the wine left to settle until it is clear, the country folk whose honesty needs no polish, the simple heart the Confucians called the root of all good government. It means pure, honest, unspoiled by the city's cleverness. The Daoists loved 淳 as the original state of man before desire taught him to lie — a child, a fool, a sage, all the same uncarved block. To wear chún is to claim an innocence that is not ignorance but choice, a cleanness the world tried to stain and could not. There is a quiet power in being uncomplicated; the complicated fear it. Wear this character near your collar like a drop of unclouded wine. It says you have not become what hurt you, that your yes is yes and your no is no, and that somewhere a simpler version of you is still standing in the village light, untouched, waiting to be recognized. Let the ink be your vow to stay, underneath it all, unmixed.