茧
(bound form) cocoon; (bound form) callus (variant of 趼[jian3])
Closest English meanings
cocoon·callus
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
Legend gives the discovery of silk to a empress watching cocoons unwind in hot water, and for millennia the mulberry districts lived by the silkworm's sealed sleep: harvest the cocoon, boil it, and reel a single thread a kilometer long. Hands that worked the vats and hoes grew calluses the same word described.
Common words & phrases
- 蚕茧 silkworm cocoon
- 老茧 callus
- 茧子 cocoon · callus
Read the story behind the character
A sericulture cooperative in Zhejiang ships cocoons to silk mills, a rock climber shows off calluses, here called cocoons, on her palms, a violinist's fingertips toughen after exam season, and a museum lets children reel a thread from warm water. A startup pitch promises to break the cocoon, then files the trademark.
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