The Calligrapher — Mǐ Fú 米芾
Song eccentric genius of dynamic, 'flying' running script.
Song calligrapher (1051–1107), master of running script — Song eccentric genius ('crazy Zhang, idiot Mi') whose running script alternates discipline with glee. Song 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.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Mǐ Fú 米芾, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.