Arts Studies and Criticism

Su Shi's regular script is acknowledged as the pinnacle of calligraphy in the Song Dynasty for its prowess and variety, and its amalgamation of conventional rules and personal spirit. The calligraphy of Su Shi is characterized by its flat, broad, and square structure. These attributes were initially perfected in his regular script and were subsequently embodied in his running script. He advocated for the ideas of "giving precedence to the regular script" and "elegant, diverse, and fluid calligraphy", which have significantly impacted subsequent generations of calligraphers and have become the predominant rules of calligraphy taught in foundational education at academies since the Yuan Dynasty.