“The celebrated Tang dynasty writer Han Yu described how his contemporary Zhang Xu, a master in cursive script, was able to create a calligraphic counterpart for what he saw in nature: ‘mountains and rivers, valleys and cliffs, birds and animals, insects and fish, the flowering of trees and the seeding of grass; sun and moon, the constellations, wind and rain, water and fire, thunder and lightning, dancing and fighting, and the vicissitudes of all things in heaven and earth. Rejoicing over them, amazed by them, he would express them through his calligraphy. . . .’ This depth of expression available through the cursive script gave readers a level of aesthetic enjoyment that often exceeded their expectations.”

—Ouyang Zhongshi & Wen C. Fong, Chinese Calligraphy, translated & edited by Wang Youfen, 2008.