The Calligrapher — Qú Lìngwèn 瞿令问

Tang seal-script master famed for his suspended-needle seal (xuanzhen).

Tang calligrapher (), master of seal script — known for 《峿台铭》. Tang dynasty

Cultural Story

猛 pairs the beast radical with 孟 and means fierce or sudden. 道德經 speaks of 猛兽, and histories praise 勇猛 (brave and fierce) generals who charge the enemy line. A 猛士 (brave warrior) dies unflinching; the word bridges animal ferocity and human courage in equal measure.

Common words & phrases

• 猛烈 fierce · violent
• 凶猛 ferocious
• 猛然 suddenly
• 勇猛 brave and fierce
• 猛士 brave warrior

Read the story behind the character

A 猛烈 (fierce) storm knocks out the power, while a 凶猛 (ferocious) dog guards the gate. You slam the brake 猛然 (suddenly) when a child runs out, and fans cheer a 勇猛 (brave and fierce) forward who scores. 猛 captures nature's force and a person's sudden, fearless energy.

Why this character belongs on skin

Fierceness is not the opposite of love; it is love with the safety off. 猛 sets the beast beside the first, the beginning, as if true ferocity were a thing born raw and untaught. The tiger is 猛; so is the mother who lifts a car; so is the man who finally says the thing he should have said a decade ago. In war it is the shock of the charge; in the heart it is the suddenness with which devotion arrives. The Daoists temper it, the Buddhists quiet it, but neither delete it. To ink 猛 is to keep your capacity for the abrupt and total nearby. Let this character lie along your arm or your chest as a quiet warning to anyone who mistook your gentleness for permission. You are soft until you are not. Then you are the storm.