暮
暮 (mù) — dusk, evening, late. Sun 日 setting behind 莫 (bushes): the day's end. Classical life: 暮年 — late life; 朝暮 — dawn and dusk (the whole day). Grammar: free morpheme — also: evening; sunset
Closest English meanings
dusk·evening·sunset·late
The Calligrapher — Wéi Dàn 韦诞
Cao Wei calligrapher famed for monumental inscriptions in regular and cursive script
三国魏 calligrapher (), master of cursive script/regular script — known for 题署书家. Wei kingdom (Three Kingdoms)
Cultural Story
暮 is the day's end. 日暮 the sun down; 暮色 the blue that climbs. 暮年 the evening of life; 朝暮 the whole day's round. 暮春 the late spring. The word is the close that comes twice — the nightly and the lifelong. The Shuowen sees the sun in the grass. A single character for the fall we meet each dusk and at the last.
Energy Reading
Earth (土)
Comparative symbology, not fortune-telling.
Common words & phrases
- 日暮 dusk · sunset · sundown
- 暮色 dusk · twilight · evening glow
- 暮年 old age · declining years · the evening of life
- 朝暮 morning and evening · all day · daily
- 暮春 late spring · end of spring · late springtime
- 暮气 lethargy · evening spirit · lack of drive
Read the story behind the character
日暮 is the shot; 暮色 the hour. 暮年 the plan; 朝暮 the 'daily.' 暮春 the post; 暮气 the slur. The word runs the photo and the eulogy — the dusk, the decline. From the river to the obituary, 暮 is the ending light and the ending life, the evening that returns and the evening that doesn't, both called by one sinking stroke.
Why this character belongs on skin
暮 is the sun dropping into grass: 日 falling among 艹 at the day's last edge. Not death—dusk. The hour when the light forgives everyone it touches, when gold lies along the fields like spilled wine and even the rough hills turn tender. The Tang poets chose this character on purpose: 夕阳无限好, the setting sun is infinitely beautiful, just as the hour turns. Mortality did not frighten them so much as make them honest. Dusk is when the day stops performing; lovers stop talking; the sea goes rose and iron. To wear 暮 is not morbid—it is to claim the finest light there is, the one that only arrives by ending. The Buddhists call this hour a teaching. The rest of us call it beautiful and lean closer. Some inks are worn for beginnings. This one is for the light that knows how to leave.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Wéi Dàn 韦诞, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.