The Calligrapher — Zhōng Shàojīng 钟绍京

Tang calligrapher famed for the regular-script Lingfei Jing.

Tang calligrapher (), master of regular script — known for 《灵飞经》. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

Cao Cao once wrote yi he shu, one combined酥, on a box of sweets and watched his officers guess; only Yang Xiu read the mi, that the characters split into he zuo cao, each eat Cao. The character mi is that folded riddle, the word that hides another word inside. From the warlord's petty game the mi yu passed into lanterns and fairs, a puzzle prized for the cleverness of its unlocking.

Common words & phrases

• 谜语 riddle
• 谜团 mystery
• 猜谜 guess riddle
• 谜底 answer to riddle
• 字谜 word riddle

Read the story behind the character

At the lantern festival a crowd cai mi over a card, decoding a zi mi from the strokes, and a child shouts the mi di before the adult does. A detective show trades in mi tuan no one can name, and a friend sends a mi yu as a dare. The character mi still hides an answer it dares you to earn.

Why this character belongs on skin

The sphinx sat at the crossroads and asked what walks on four legs, then two, then three. The price of a wrong answer was death. We are always being questioned by a world that will not explain itself — why we love who we love, why the good child suffers, why the light leaves the room. This character is the riddle, the unsolved, the deliberate dark. The Zen master answers a koan with silence; the oracle at Delphi said know yourself and meant the same. You are the riddle and the one attempting to solve it, a paradox worn close to the bone. To ink this is to make peace with not knowing, to tattoo the question mark where others demand the period. Let it hum against your skin: some things are meant to stay unsolved, and the mystery is the mercy. The answer was never the point. The asking is the devotion.