Lin Zexu's calligraphy was already well-known when he entered the Hanlin Academy as a Jinshi at the age of 27. As a famous calligrapher in the Qing Dynasty, his calligraphy was based on the Tang Dynasty regular script, and he especially admired the "Jiucheng Palace Liquan Ming" written by Ouyang Xun of the Tang Dynasty, who was known for his squareness. As a standard for learning calligraphy in Linchi, one should practice diligent copying, so the rubbings of "Lanting Preface" in small regular script have the legacy of Ouyang Gong.
