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

On the Peking opera stage a ming jue, a star performer, could fill a theatre on reputation alone; the word jiao se, role, still names the part he plays. Long before that, jiao was the curled horn of an ox, blown as a hao jiao, a battle horn, to rally troops. In the Han court jiao di pitched wrestlers against one another for the emperor's amusement. The character bends from a beast's crown to the shape of every duty we are cast in.

Common words & phrases

• 角落 corner · nook · angle · spot
• 角度 angle · perspective · viewpoint · aspect
• 角色 role · character · part · persona
• 牛角 ox horn · horn · antler · buffalo horn
• 三角 triangle · triangular · corner · three-cornered
• 号角 bugle · horn · trumpet · call

Read the story behind the character

A child reads in the jiao luo, the corner, of a room; a photographer chooses her jiao du, her angle, for the shot; a gamer inhabits a jiao se, a role, online. The herbalist grinds niu jiao, ox horn, for medicine, and a band blows a hao jiao, a bugle, at a ceremony. From a beast's crown to a point of view, the character measures both space and the parts we are given to play.