The Calligrapher — Wáng Xīzhī 王羲之
The 'Sage of Calligraphy'; his running script has set the standard for 1,700 years.
Eastern Jin calligrapher (303–361), master of running script/cursive script/regular script — the Sage of Calligraphy; his Orchid Pavilion Preface is the most celebrated work in the tradition, and nearly every later master traces lineage to his hand. Eastern Jin dynasty
Cultural Story
膳 is formal fare — the meals of princes. The 周礼 assigns a 膳夫, a steward of meals, to the royal kitchen, and histories note the hour of 早膳, morning meal, when the emperor dined alone behind curtains. For monasteries and schools the word meant board and lodging, 膳宿; to 用膳 was to dine with ceremony, chopsticks laid just so.
Common words & phrases
- 膳食 meals · diet
- 用膳 dine
- 膳房 kitchen
- 早膳 breakfast
- 膳宿 board and lodging
Read the story behind the character
The hospital menu promises a balanced 膳食, meals designed by dietitians, low in salt and oil. Your cousin works in the school 膳房, the kitchen, where steam tables feed a thousand students at noon. In the palace drama the eunuch announces that 早膳, breakfast, is served, and the emperor deigns to 用膳 — to dine — with magnificent indifference.
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Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Wáng Xīzhī 王羲之, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.