The Calligrapher — Zhāng Xiàoxiáng 张孝祥

Song lyricist and calligrapher famed for his robust running script.

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

Cultural Story

枫 is the maple, and the 楚辭 places a 楓 tree at the watery southern border where the soul of the dead gathers — a tree of parting and the unseen. The Tang poets turn its red leaf into autumn's signature. The 枫林 in late October is a wall of fire along a mountain road after the first cold.

Common words & phrases

• 枫叶 maple leaf
• 枫树 maple tree · maple
• 枫林 maple forest · maple grove
• 红枫 red maple

Read the story behind the character

枫 is the leaf on the postcard: 枫叶 the red blade a tourist pockets in Canada or Kyoto, 红枫 the variety planted in a courtyard for color. 枫树 lines a mountain road in November. The character is seasonal decoration, the tree you photograph, less a symbol now than a reason to take a train in fall.

Why this character belongs on skin

In the tenth month the maple sets the hills on fire and calls it letting go. The maple, whose leaves turn to blade-red before they fall, is the tree that makes mortality beautiful on purpose. The poets pinned its leaf to the letter sent home, a small red punctuation for I am still here, and the year is turning. There is a Buddhist calm in such bright decay: to burn before you vanish, to be seen precisely as you release. To wear this character is to claim the autumn self, the one who does not fear the ending because the ending is the coloring. It is a sensual, defiant mark — ink it where the shoulder meets the back, a single leaf of red implied in black — and let it say: I will go out in color, and the falling will be the most beautiful thing I do.