The Calligrapher — Zhào Mèngjiān 赵孟坚

Song kinsman of Zhao Mengfu; refined running script.

Song calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 《自书诗》. Song dynasty

Cultural Story

合 was to close and to join. In the Warring States, Su Qin argued for 合纵 -- the vertical alliance, binding the states north to south against Qin. The word meant the fitting of two halves into one, the lid on the box, the allies in a league. 天人合一 later joined heaven and man in a single order. It was the motion of coming together.

Common words & phrases

• 合作 cooperate · collaborate · cooperation
• 结合 combine · unite · integrate
• 合格 qualified · up to standard
• 符合 accord with · conform to · match
• 合适 suitable · appropriate · fit

Read the story behind the character

Two firms 合作 on the bid; the sample is 合格 and ships. The plan 符合 the rules; the size is 合适 for the shelf. The word runs the day's joining -- the partnership, the standard met, the match made. It names what fits, what agrees, what combines, from the merged contract to the borrowed coat that happens to be the right length.

Why this character belongs on skin

Two halves meet and become whole — 合 is to join, to close, to fit, the lid settling onto the box. The old form showed a lid descending over a vessel, the covering that makes one thing of two. The Daoists spoke of 合 as the return to the source, the union of breath and body, the pair that completes. To the West it is the marriage, the handshake, the seam where two stories become one. A tattoo of 合 is for the one who has found their fit — the partner, the place, the self that finally closes. It is a mark of completion, worn where two lines of ink might meet. Carry it as a small yes. Not everything is meant to stand alone. Some things are only true when joined, and this character is the word for that relief.