The Calligrapher — Zhāng Zhī 张芝

Han 'Sage of Cursive', father of the connected-cursive style.

Han calligrapher (?–192), master of cursive script/clerical cursive — Han dynasty 'Cursive Sage' who turned rapid writing into an art form centuries before cursive peaked. Han dynasty

Cultural Story

The Analects tighten the self with four 勿: “非礼勿视，非礼勿聽，非礼勿言，非礼勿動” — see, hear, speak, act not against the rites. The graph was once a token struck through a thing. On excavated Qin slips the clerk wrote 勿 to strike a clause from a contract, the same stroke of refusal. 勿忘 later heads the monuments to a war the nation refuses to forget.

Common words & phrases

• 勿忘 do not forget · never forget
• 切勿 absolutely do not · be sure not to
• 勿论 regardless · no matter
• 格杀勿论 kill on sight · slay without mercy

Read the story behind the character

A sign reads 勿忘 the date as visitors enter a memorial; 切勿 appears on the battery that must not be opened. 勿論 ends a rule that spares the small offense, and 格殺勿論 the old poster's cold license to kill. The word still governs the line between the allowed and the forbidden.