The Calligrapher — Lù Jī 陆机

Jin calligrapher of clerical-cursive script, author of the Pingfu Letter (Pingfu tie), earliest surviving work.

Jin calligrapher (), master of cursive script — known for 《平复帖》（存世最早墨迹）. Jin dynasty

Cultural Story

In the Shuowen Jiezi, 鼠 is drawn as a small beast with a head bent down and a long trailing tail, gnawing at the dark. Ancient granaries feared it, yet the zodiac granted the rat first place among the twelve, crediting its cunning. Poets called greedy officials 鼠辈, and the terrible 鼠疫 swept medieval trade routes.

Common words & phrases

• 老鼠 mouse · rat
• 鼠标 mouse · cursor
• 鼠辈 scoundrels
• 鼠疫 plague

Read the story behind the character

Every office worker clicks a 鼠标 — the computer mouse, named because the cord once trailed like a tail — hundreds of times a day, while apartment dwellers set traps for a scurrying 老鼠 behind the stove. Calling someone 鼠辈 still brands them scoundrels, and schoolbooks recall how 鼠疫, the plague, reshaped history.

Why this character belongs on skin

First of the twelve zodiac animals—yes, first, and by cleverness. The old story says the Rat rode the Ox across the river and leapt to shore just before him, and the Jade Emperor let the trick stand. Since then 鼠 has meant the small survivor: the one who finds a way where the strong find walls. It is not a flattering word in the marketplace, but zodiac truth is different from gossip—those born under the Rat are quick, resourceful, awake at the hours others sleep through. Every empire has fed its mice; every collapse has left them standing. The years of the Rat keep returning, and each time the animal is crowned again in temple calendars and kitchen luck—a small, sharp reminder that survival has always been a genius all its own. This is ink for the underdog with bright eyes, the one who will outlast you all.