In the April of the 6th years of Zhenguan (632), His Majesty spent his summer vacation at Nonuple Palace, former detached palace of the Sui. Standing on mountaintop and surrounded by sheer precipice, grand audience halls and pavilions rise high to blot out the sky, and glazed roofs in gold and green, which contrast finely with red ochre walls, stretch afar to the horizon. Wasn't this too extravagant for a temporary dwelling? Yet in dog days the cool weather in the mountain makes it the perfect resort to escape from heat.

The palace used to depend on streams in the valley for water. On April 16th His Majesty strolled to its west side, admiring the view of splendid buildings. While lingering around he noticed that the soil by the shady side of a pavilion seemed wet. Sticking with his cane, spring water began to well out. Whereupon a stone channel was built, running through the seraglios then east to the gate. As clear as crystal and as tasty as sweet wine, it washes off old filth and breathes new life along its course.

Ouyang Xun, an instructor at Imperial Academy, demonstrates the grace of finalized regular script. His brushwork is at once spirited and precise and his strokes are calculated to fit each other - a technical difficulty by which future generations judged their own skills. The hallmark of his style is the vertical strokes that stretch out of a character's squareness, producing a steep effect. “Reading his script is as visiting a remote mountain, jagged and chilly, but full of spirit,” commented Chen Jiru, a painter-calligrapher of Ming dynasty.