Su Shi (1037-1101), courtesy name Zizhan, also known as Dongpo Jushi, was a native of Meishan (now part of Sichuan). He, his father Su Xun, and his younger brother Su Zhe are famous for their poetry and prose, and are known as the "Three Sus" in the world. His calligraphy absorbed nutrients from the "Two Kings", Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, Chu Suiliang, Xu Hao, Li Beihai and Yang Ningshi, and worked hard to innovate on the basis of inheriting the tradition. When he talked about his calligraphy, he said: "The method of writing calligraphy requires limited knowledge and limited knowledge. In the end, the three cannot be perfect. I have both mind, eye and hand." When talking about his calligraphy art creation process, he said: "I calligraphy There is no way to create it by intention, so the dots and paintings are made by hand." He focused on writing "meaning" and expressed his feelings in the dot painting written by "free hand". He uses traditional techniques to create calligraphy art on the basis of a deep understanding of calligraphy art. He enriches and develops traditional techniques in the creation of calligraphy art, rather than simply imitating ancient calligraphy mechanically.
Su Shi studied the "Two Kings" in his early years, Yan Zhenqing and Yang Ningshi in his middle age, and Li Beihai in his later years. He also extensively studied other calligraphers of the Jin and Tang Dynasties, forming a deep and simple style. His calligraphy uses more sideways strokes, and the structure is flat and slightly fat. This is also closely related to the posture in which he holds the pen. Su Shi wrote as a "lying pen", that is, the brush lies on its side between the tiger's mouth, similar to the current posture of holding a pen, so his characters are slanted to the right and flat.
Huang Tingjian divided Su Shi's calligraphy into three periods: early, middle and late: charming in the early years, round and vigorous in the middle years, and calm in the later years. The early representative work is "Zhi Ping Tie", with exquisite brushwork and charming handwriting. The representative work of middle-aged people is "Huangzhou Cold Food Poems". These poems are two poems written by Su Shi in the fifth year of Yuanfeng (1082) when he was demoted to Huangzhou due to the Wutai Poetry Case. The poems are melancholy and desolate yet broad-minded, and the calligraphy brushes and ink colors also change with the changes in the context of the poems, with ups and downs, extraordinary momentum and completeness in one go, reaching an almost perfect state of "smooth heart and hand". Therefore, Yu Shu in the Yuan Dynasty called it "the third running script in the world" after Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Preface" and Yan Zhenqing's "Nephew Sacrifice Manuscript". His representative works in his later years include the running script "Ode to Spring in Dongting" and "Ode to Zhongshan Pine Mash". These two poems are distinguished by their ancient elegance, various gestures and tight structure, which reflect the "short and fat" characteristics of Su Shi's calligraphy. His latest ink mark should be "A Paper with Xie Minshi" (1100).
His representative works include "Dark Clouds in the Sky", "Dongting Spring Ode", "Zhongshan Song Miao Ode", "Cold Food Poems", "Drunkard Pavilion" and so on. Su Shi's calligraphy was highly praised by later generations. The person who has the most say is Huang Tingjian. He said in "Valley Collection" that "those who are good at calligraphy in this dynasty should naturally recommend (Su) as the first."
