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

粒 is a single kernel — grain reduced to its smallest countable unit. The Red Cliff Rhapsody's 沧海一粟 humbles every traveler: one grain against the blue sea. Granary clerks counted tax rice by impossible sums, yet famine memorials argued over a single 一粒 — because one grain, weighed against starvation, was moral currency.

Common words & phrases

• 颗粒 grain · particle · pellet
• 米粒 grain of rice · rice
• 粒子 particle
• 一粒 a grain · a piece

Read the story behind the character

Physics accelerators smash 粒子; air-quality reports count suspended 颗粒; parents scold children for leaving 米粒 in the bowl — finishing your rice is still quiet etiquette. Pills are counted 一粒 at a time, and nutrition labels break every snack into its grains and particles: the smallest unit, still counted.