The Calligrapher — Yú Shìnán 虞世南

Tang court calligrapher revered for refined, restrained regular script.

Tang calligrapher (558–638), master of regular script — Tang master of quiet, inward regular script and teacher to the imperial academy. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

Shuowen defines 羲 as breath or vapor, but the character is chiefly famous as half of Fuxi (伏羲), the mythical emperor who drew the eight trigrams and taught people to fish, hunt, and marry. In Chu songs Xihe (羲和), the sun goddess, drives her chariot across the sky; later generations lent the same luminous syllable to calligrapher Wang Xizhi, honoring his brush as heaven's own.

Common words & phrases

• 伏羲 Fuxi (mythical emperor)
• 羲和 Xihe (sun goddess)

Read the story behind the character

Today 羲 belongs mostly to books and names. A museum poster of Fuxi (伏羲), the mythical emperor, greets schoolchildren on field trips; a planetarium personifies Xihe (羲和), the sun goddess, and even lends her name to solar-observation satellites, while families surnamed Xi still sign this bright old character at banks and on wedding invitations.