The Calligrapher — Lǐ Yōng 李邕

Tang running-script master famed for his stele inscriptions.

Tang calligrapher (678–747), master of running script — known for 《麓山寺碑》（李北海）. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

To run a cart over something is 轹, to crush and grind it flat under the wheels. By extension it names the strong riding down the weak: 凌轹 is to bully, to overawe, to press a smaller thing until it yields. The image is blunt and mechanical — a wheel, a body, and the silence after the vehicle has passed and left the ground smooth and quiet behind it.

Common words & phrases

• 车轹 run over by cart
• 轹蹙 oppress · trample
• 凌轹 bully · overawe

Read the story behind the character

A market boss 凌轹 the smaller stalls, undercutting until they close, the way a cart once rolled over what lay in its path. Historically 车轹 meant being run down by a carriage; now the word describes a merger that 轹蹙 a rival out of business. The character keeps its old physics of weight applied from above, only the wheels have become contracts and the road has become the market floor.