Writers › Writer / Poet
Cui Yuan
Eastern Han calligrapher and writer, master of zhangcao script and author of the Inscription at the Right of the Seat
In a study at night, a desk holds a brush pot, a porcelain vase with a plum branch, a lit red lantern, a folded fan and an unrolled blank scroll, with no one seated there, while through a round window the moon rises over a lake with a sailboat.
Also known as Cui Ziyu · Ziyu · Zuoyouming Zuozhe · Caoshu Dajia
Cui Yuan, courtesy name Ziyu, from Anping in Zhuo commandery, a son of the scholar Cui Yin, was an Eastern Han calligrapher and writer. Known for zhangcao cursive, he was called the Worthy of Cursive and wrote an essay on the force of cursive script. He served seven years as magistrate of Ji county and later as chancellor of Jibei. His Inscription at the Right of the Seat, which opens by warning against speaking of others' faults or one's own merits, is included in the Wen xuan. His life is told in the Book of the Later Han.
Life and times
Dates 77 - 142