The Calligrapher — Zhào Mèngfǔ 赵孟頫

Yuan master whose elegant regular and running script revived classical tradition.

Yuan calligrapher (1254–1322), master of regular script/running script/cursive script — Yuan reviver of classical elegance who could write any script beautifully and did. Yuan dynasty

Cultural Story

Jia Yi, writing his 'On the Faults of Qin' in the second century BCE, charged that the First Emperor 'razed the famous cities and 隳坏 the strong walls' to keep the realm subdued. The verb 隳 names the deliberate pulling-down of what stood. A regime that 隳突 its own defenses, Jia Yi argued, sows the weakness that later brings it low — ruin coming not from outside but from the hand that tears.

Common words & phrases

• 隳坏 destroy · ruin
• 隳突 aggressive · oppressive
• 隳堕 fall into ruin

Read the story behind the character

A heritage officer photographs a derelict temple whose western wing has 隳堕 into a heap of tiles, its beams too far gone to save. The land trust debates whether to 隳坏 the rest before it falls on a visitor. Nearby a developer's crew has already 隳坏 an old warehouse, the dust of demolition hanging over the street as the crane swings.