The Calligrapher — Zhào Mèngfǔ 赵孟頫
Yuan master whose elegant regular and running script revived classical tradition.
Yuan calligrapher (1254–1322), master of regular script/running script/cursive script — Yuan reviver of classical elegance who could write any script beautifully and did. Yuan dynasty
Cultural Story
膳 is formal fare — the meals of princes. The 周礼 assigns a 膳夫, a steward of meals, to the royal kitchen, and histories note the hour of 早膳, morning meal, when the emperor dined alone behind curtains. For monasteries and schools the word meant board and lodging, 膳宿; to 用膳 was to dine with ceremony, chopsticks laid just so.
Common words & phrases
- 膳食 meals · diet
- 用膳 dine
- 膳房 kitchen
- 早膳 breakfast
- 膳宿 board and lodging
Read the story behind the character
The hospital menu promises a balanced 膳食, meals designed by dietitians, low in salt and oil. Your cousin works in the school 膳房, the kitchen, where steam tables feed a thousand students at noon. In the palace drama the eunuch announces that 早膳, breakfast, is served, and the emperor deigns to 用膳 — to dine — with magnificent indifference.
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