This scroll was likely a preliminary draft for the eulogy for Yan Zhenqing's nephew. It can be seen that Yan Zhenqing went back and crossed out and changed his words in numerous places. This shows how he composed and edited his writing, providing insight into his ideas as well as his calligraphy. Despite the formality of the content, the style of the work reveals considerable emotional unrestraint, making this one of the more significant examples of Yan Zhenqing's works]]>
This is a piece that combined poetry with calligraphy. It was written by Su Shi when he was in political trouble and demoted and dispatched to serve as a minor official in Huangzhou. The bleak weather and the Hanzi Festival only added to his melancholy. The strong emotions underlying the piece are comparable to the feeling embodied in the Wang Xizhi's Lanting Xu (蘭亭序) and the Yan Zhenqing's Draft of a Requiem to My Nephew (祭侄文稿).

Hanshi Festival (寒食節) is an ancient traditional Chinese festival celebrated for three consecutive days starting the day before the Qingming Festival (清明節) which falls on 4 or 5 April.]]>