翳
feather screen; to screen; to shade; cataract
Closest English meanings
shade·screen·cataract·hide
The Calligrapher — Lín Zǎo 林藻
Tang calligrapher of running script, famed for the Shenwei Letter (Shenwei tie).
Tang calligrapher (), master of running script — known for 《深慰帖》. Tang 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
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 Lín Zǎo 林藻, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.