The Calligrapher — Zhāng Yùzhào 张裕钊

Qing calligrapher who created the square-within-round Nangong script.

Qing calligrapher (), master of regular script — known for 南宫体. Qing dynasty

Cultural Story

Song means to walk someone partway — the old courtesy of escorting a guest down the road. The Book of Songs shows a bride escorted 'far into the open country,' and songbie, seeing-off, has been tearful ever since.

Common words & phrases

• 送别 see off · bid farewell
• 运送 transport · ship · convey
• 送礼 give a gift · present
• 送行 see off · send off
• 发送 send · transmit · dispatch

Read the story behind the character

Modern song runs errands and feelings alike: yunsong (deliver) the parcel to the door, fasong (send) the message before bed, songli (give gifts) at Mid-Autumn, songxing (see someone off) at the platform. At graduation, the whole class stands at the gate — the ancient escort, replayed with phones out for photos.

Why this character belongs on skin

The most generous act is also the saddest. 送 means to send, to deliver, to escort someone to the edge and let them go: a guest, a bride, a dead parent. The character carries to walk under a gate that closes behind; you walk them out and return alone. The Confucian honored the proper sending of the dead as the truest test of a son. In love it is the long drive to the airport, the wave from the platform. To wear this is to accept that everything you hold will be handed onward, and that your greatness lies in how cleanly you release it. Do not mistake it for loss. The Christian commends the soul; the traveler commends the road. Ink it on the hand that gives. Let it mark you as one who knows how to say goodbye without clutching, who sends people into their lives the way a river sends a leaf, glad, and gone, and still part of the water.