Wen Zhengming studied calligraphy with Li Yingzhen when he was young. Wen Zhengming's father, Wen Lin, had a close friendship with Li Yingzhen. Wen Zhengming once said: "The children of colleagues have to do things day and night, and they inherit many introductions." One day, Li Yingzhen saw that Wen Zhengming's calligraphy was very much like Su Shi's calligraphy style. He scolded him for not being far away from ancient times and asked him to copy Wang Xizhi's calligraphy.