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

或 is the ancestor of 國. In its early form it enclosed a settlement and a spear — a realm defended — and only later shed the border to become the particle for someone, something, or. The 論語 uses it for the unknown person one might yet meet. The country, etymologically, is a maybe with a wall.

Common words & phrases

• 或者 or · either · perhaps
• 或许 perhaps · maybe · probably
• 间或 occasionally · from time to time
• 甚或 even · or even

Read the story behind the character

或 is the soft alternative: 或者 the choice at the counter, 或许 the maybe you offer to spare feelings, 间或 the thing that happens now and then. It does the work of or and perhaps without committing to either. A particle that once meant a defended land now means a deferred decision.