The Calligrapher — Zhào Zhīqiān 赵之谦

Qing pioneer who fused seal-script vigor into every style.

Qing calligrapher (), master of 篆隶/running script — Qing eclectic who fused seal, clerical and painting sensibilities into one bold hand. Qing dynasty

Cultural Story

The Daode Jing speaks of the gu shen that never dies, the valley spirit, a hollow low place that births and receives without claiming. The character gu is that emptiness, the valley floor where water gathers and the humble teach the proud. From the mystic's hollow the same stroke named the wu gu, the five grains that fill the people, valley of field as well as of mountain.

Common words & phrases

• 山谷 valley · mountain valley
• 谷物 grain · cereals · corn
• 五谷 five cereals · grains · staples
• 低谷 trough · low point · dip
• 峡谷 canyon · gorge · ravine
• 谷地 valley · valley floor

Read the story behind the character

A hiker rests in the shan gu between two ridges, and a shop stocks gu wu for the morning congee. The economist reads a di gu in the trade cycle, a low point before the rise, and a canyon tour sells the xia gu view. The character gu still names the hollow, whether of earth, of market, or of bowl.

Why this character belongs on skin

Emptiness is the most generous thing in the world. Gǔ is the valley—the low, open ground that all the rivers trust enough to fill. Laozi named a spirit after it: the valley spirit that never dies, because it holds nothing and therefore holds everything. The proud mountain refuses the water; the valley receives it and blooms. To wear this character is to make a vow of roominess—that your heart will be a basin, not a wall, that you will stoop to gather what the heights dismiss. Let it lie along your collarbone, the hollow where breath begins. The Dao moves through the empty, not the full. Be the valley. The ink is the shape of your willingness to be filled.