翳 calligraphy

翳

feather screen; to screen; to shade; cataract

Closest English meanings

shade·screen·cataract·hide

The Calligrapher — Mǐ Yǒurén 米友仁

Song painter-son of Mi Fu; co-inventor of 'cloud-mist' ink play.

Song calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 米芾之子,《潇湘奇观图》题. Song dynasty

Cultural Story

翳 named whatever hides: leaf-screen, cloud-film, feather shade. Poets walked through 荫翳 groves where the trees breathed cool air; physicians gave the same character to the white film of 白翳, the cataract stealing an elder's sight, and country families prayed over a grandmother whose eyes had begun to film over like still water.

Common words & phrases

  • 荫翳 shaded · shady
  • 云翳 cloud cover · film
  • 白翳 eye cataract
  • 翳障 cataract · screen

Read the story behind the character

In the modern world

The word lingers where light struggles. Hikers praise a trail's 荫翳 (shaded, shady) canopy on a scorching afternoon; weather watchers note 云翳 (cloud cover, film) thickening toward dusk. At the eye hospital the morning register lists 白翳 (eye cataract) operations, the surgeon lifting away the 翳障 (cataract, screen) so a grandmother can read her phone again.

Own this character

Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Mǐ Yǒurén 米友仁, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.