The Calligrapher — Zhāng Cóngshēn 张从申

Tang running-script master who followed Wang Xizhi, likened to Li Yong in brushwork.

Tang calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 《玄静先生碑》. Tang dynasty

Etymology & Meaning · 字义溯源

2 · The Character: 张 张 (zhāng, 1st tone), traditional 張, is glossed by the Shuowen Jiezi as 施弓弦也。从弓長聲 — 'to fit the string to the bow,' therefore to draw, to stretch, to open out. Kangxi files 張 at 11 strokes under the 弓 radical. Its greatest line is 《禮記·雜記下》, where Confucius answers a question about a festival crowd: 張而不弛，文武弗能也；弛而不張，文武弗為也；一張一弛，文武之道也 — 'to draw the bow and never slacken it, even Kings Wen and Wu could not do; to slacken and never draw, they would not do; one drawing, one slackening — that is their Way.' 《詩·小雅·吉日》 has 既張我弓，既挾我矢. Honest disclosure, and it is a large one: 張 is among the three commonest Chinese surnames, borne by roughly ninety million people, and in modern grammar it is the measure word for flat things — 一张纸, one sheet of paper. Most Chinese readers will see 'Mr Zhang', or 'one sheet', before they see the drawn bow.

Cultural Story

張 is to bend the bow and string it — the drawn weapon, then any spreading open. 張良 was the strategist who bent empires without drawing a blade, and the character kept his reach: to open, to post, to stretch a thing until it shows its full face.

Where a Western reader can stand: Where a Western reader can stand: the drawn bow, tension loaded and held, with the classical instruction to slacken it again (一張一弛). Honest caveat: for nearly every Chinese reader 张 is first a surname — one of the top three, some ninety million people — and second the measure word in 'one sheet of paper'. Zhang Congshen makes that a feature rather than a fault: a Zhang of the Four Zhang Dragons writing his own name in the orthodox Wang manner, which is why this pairing is best worn as a clan mark and paired (张力, 开张) if you want the archery to lead.

Common words & phrases

• 张开 open · spread · unfold · extend
• 张扬 make public · show off · publicize
• 张望 look around · peer · glance about
• 紧张 nervous · tense · strained · uptight
• 主张 advocate · view · stand · opinion
• 张贴 post up · paste up · put up · placard

Read the story behind the character

紧张 is the sweat before the interview, 张贴 the notice someone tapes to the door, 主张 the opinion a columnist will not soften, 张望 the glance over a crowded platform. The bow is a nerve and a poster now; we still draw things open, often to see what frightens us.