The Calligrapher — Yú Hé 俞和

Yuan calligrapher of refined regular and running-cursive script.

Yuan calligrapher (), master of regular script/running-cursive — known for 学赵孟頫. Yuan dynasty

Cultural Story

最 is the top of the count. 最好 the best; 最近 the nearest. 最后 the last; 最大 the largest. 最初 the first; 最高 the highest. The word is the extreme on the scale — the superlative the clerk stamps. The Shuowen sees the gather and the head. A single character for the utmost, the rank nothing exceeds, the end of the line where the count stops.

Common words & phrases

• 最好 best
• 最近 recently · nearest
• 最后 last · final
• 最大 biggest · largest
• 最初 first · initial
• 最高 highest · tallest

Read the story behind the character

最好 is the wish; 最近 the 'lately.' 最后 the bell; 最大 the deal. 最初 the start; 最高 the bar. The word runs the scale and the status — the most, the top. From the poll to the price, 最 is the superlative we stamp on everything, the best and the biggest and the last, the end of the count where nothing ranks above and the line simply stops.

Why this character belongs on skin

Every love story has a 最高 moment—the utmost hour, the peak from which all later evenings are measured. 最 means most, the superlative itself: the radical for said-and-done crowning a radical for taking, as if the utmost were a thing seized at last. Chinese grammar leans on it constantly—最好, the best; 最后, the final; 最初, the very beginning—yet pause on how dangerous and beautiful the superlative is. To name a 最 is to admit you are capable of ranking, of caring that much about degrees: that one kiss outranked the others, that one summer holds the crown forever. The Romantic poets could not live without their utmost; neither can you. This character refuses the shrug of moderation. It is for someone with a favorite everything and no embarrassment about it. Ink 最 and make it a question your skin keeps asking: what was your most—and what, deliciously, might still outdo it?