The practice of handwriting goes back to the Zhou dynasty when, according to The Zhou Rituals, secretary of Ritual Minister taught children to write. Cheng Miao of the Qin developed and Handan Chun of the Han standardized clerical characters, but in those days calligraphy was hardly practiced as we do today. Later on Zhang Zhi was crowned “god of cursive script”; Zhong You excelled in regular script; Wang Xizhi perfected semi-cursive script; Wang Xianzhi developed a style between cursive and semi-cursive script. These were landmark figures. To modern times those taking over the legacy of Wang Xizhi were Xiao Ziyun, Zhi Yong, Yu Shinan and Ouyang Xun. Arrivals after Chu Suiliang and Xue Ji were not worth mentioning. Some held that Yu had the muscle, whereas Ouyang had the bone, Chu having the meat. They are right. Eagle has dull looking feather, but it soars, which is owing to its strength; pheasant has bright-colored plume, but it glides, which is owing to its flesh. It is no other than phoenix who is both gorgeous and soaring. Yu and Ouyang are eagle; Chu and Xue are pheasant. Ouyang once said, “Xiao Ziyun benefited from draft cursive script.” There was a sense in what he said.

I had calligraphy at heart at the age of losing my milk teeth. Knowing that diligence can make up for clumsy hand, I bent over my desk day after day copying rubbings from stone inscriptions. How could I commit what the ancients regarded as a disgrace? “The benevolent has the seat of honor and the musical has the seat below the salt,” Book of Rites specifies, however. Now that artistry is of minor importance, what need do we have of calligraphy? It is that calligraphy nurtures truly great man. Besides, isn't it pleasant to read a letter of a graceful hand by someone thousand miles away? Calligraphy is not as decisive as literature; none the less, it is still significant above the game of go.

At the beginning learn to write strokes in bones or meat will be supportless. Always keep the tip of a brush concealed or the brush is abused, with which any skill is unthinkable. Don't build characters too spacious, nor too cramped; not too big, nor too small. Adjust characters with fewer strokes tight and characters with more strokes roomy; size small characters bigger and big characters smaller. These are essentials of character composing. Don't write strokes too fast, nor too slow; not too plain, nor too oblique. Fast strokes must be steady and slow strokes must be brisk; plain strokes must have some obliquity and oblique strokes mast have some plainness. These are basic stroke techniques.

Zhang Zhi was so diligent in his study that the pond by his home was turned inky; Zhi Yong was so absorbed in his practice that he shut himself up for forty years. Zhang's skillfulness lent him the title of “god of cursive script”; Zhi Yong's confinement enabled him to be a celebrity. These examples testify that the perfection is not the work of a short time. The saying “one-hundred-day effort will not yield result in calligraphy“ is a mere figure of speech. How can a lifetime pursuit be accomplished in one hundred days?

Xu, an official at Board of Personnel, wrote this letter to his children. Tang people broke down brushwork into three parts - bone, muscle and meat. This letter is a typical example of this practice.