Artistically
Zhao Mengfu was erudite and talented. He was good at poetry and prose, understood economics, was good at calligraphy and painting, was good at epigraphy and stone, knew laws and regulations, and understood appreciation. In particular, he achieved the highest achievements in calligraphy and painting, creating a new style of painting in the Yuan Dynasty, and was known as the "Crown of the Yuan Dynasty". In painting, landscapes, figures, flowers and birds, bamboos and rocks, and pommel horses are omnipotent; fine brushwork, freehand brushwork, green, and ink are also masterful. He already occupies an important position in the history of Chinese calligraphy. Zhao Mengfu began to study calligraphy since he was five years old. He continued to read and write calligraphy until his death. He was good at seal script, official script, Zhen script, Xing script, and cursive script, and was especially famous for his regular script and running script. According to the "History of the Yuan Dynasty," "Meng Fu's seal script, official script, Zhen script, and cursive script are all the best in ancient and modern times, so he is famous all over the world for his books." "Zi'ang's Seal Script" by Yushu of the Yuan Dynasty said: "Zi'ang's seal script, Li, Zhen, Xing and Biancao are the best in the contemporary era, and his small regular script is the first among all Zi'ang's books." His calligraphy style is charming, elegant and coherent. Strict and neat, with sophisticated brushwork, it is known as "Zhao style" in the world. Together with Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan and Ouyang Xun, they are called the "Four Masters" of regular script. Zhao Mengfu has many written works handed down from generation to generation, and his representative works include "Thousand-Character Essay", "Luo Shen Fu", "Dengba Stele", "Come Back and Come Back", "Lanting Thirteen Postscripts", "Red Cliff Fu", and "Tao Te Ching" , "Qiu E's Tombstone Inscription" and so on. He is the author of 12 volumes of "Notes on Shangshu" and "Collected Works of Song Xuezhai".
Huizong loved art. During his reign, he elevated the status of painters to the highest position in Chinese history and established the Hanlin Academy of Calligraphy and Painting, which was the Palace Painting Academy at that time. Painting was used as an examination method for promotion in the imperial examination, and poetry as a question every year stimulated many new creative stories. For example, under the title "Ancient Temple Hidden in the Mountains", many people painted the eaves of a temple deep in the mountains, but the first place winner did not draw any houses, only a monk carrying water from a mountain stream; another title was "Returning after Stepping on Flowers to Fragrance of Horseshoes". The first place winner did not draw any flowers, but only drew a man riding a horse, with butterflies flying between the horse's hooves, and so on. These have greatly stimulated the development of the artistic conception of Chinese painting. He observed nature in detail and once wrote: "When a peacock climbs high, he must first raise his left leg" and other theoretical articles on painting. He extensively collected cultural relics from past dynasties and ordered his subordinates to compile famous art history books such as "Xuanhe Book Collection", "Xuanhe Painting Collection" and "Xuanhe Bogulu". He has made considerable contributions to the study of art history
"Plum Blossom Eyes Embroidered Picture" by Zhao Ji of the Song Dynasty. Huizong also liked to write poems and postscripts on his favorite paintings and calligraphy. Later generations called this kind of painting "imperial painting". Since many paintings did not leave the author's name, he himself was good at painting. It is quite difficult to identify whether these paintings are the works of Zhao Ji. There is a point of view that confirms that his authentic paintings include "Poetry", "Willow Duck Picture", "Late Autumn Picture on the Pond", "Bamboo Bird Picture", "Four Bird Picture", etc., and "Hibiscus Golden Pheasant Picture" and "Wood Plum Mountain Bird Picture" are imperial paintings. In addition, Huizong's original thin gold calligraphy is unique in the world, and I believe no one can surpass it to this day. This kind of thin gold calligraphy is tall, beautiful, elegant and sharp. Even people who don't know calligraphy at all will feel great after reading it. The immortal thin gold calligraphy works include "Thousand Character Essay in Thin Gold Style", "Two Poems on the Wind and Frost", "Summer Poems", "Ouyang Xun and Zhang Han's Postscript", etc. After more than 800 years, no one has been able to reach his height, and he can be called the first person in ancient and modern times.