The Calligrapher — Shěn Dù 沈度

Ming court calligrapher famed for refined regular script.

Ming calligrapher (), master of regular script — known for 台阁体代表. Ming dynasty

Cultural Story

彝 is the bronze ritual vessel, the tripod a clan set before its ancestors with wine and meat. 彝器 filled the ancestral hall, and the 彝族 — the Yi of the southwest — took the name of a people whose 火把節 still burns the summer hills. The character is the vessel and the line that tends it.

Common words & phrases

• 彝族 Yi ethnic group
• 彝器 bronze ritual vessel
• 彝文 Yi script

Read the story behind the character

彝族 is the ethnic group whose torch festival draws tour buses to 雲南, 彝文 the script on a road sign few drivers read, 彝器 the bronze a curator lights at knee height. The tripod is a showcase; the people and their fire are real, and mostly elsewhere from the museum's quiet.