Lu You, Zi Wu Guan, nicknamed Fang Weng, Han nationality, native of Shanyin, Yuezhou, grandson of Shangshu Youcheng Lu Dian, a writer, historian and patriotic poet of the Southern Song Dynasty.
In 1125, Lu You was born in a book-collecting family in the south of the Yangtze River. He had a wealth of ancient Chinese classics to read since he was a child. Because Lu You showed extraordinary talent since he was a child, he studied under Han Yougong and others.
In 1153, Lu You went to Lin'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, to take the imperial examination and won first place. Unfortunately, Qin Hui's grandson also took the exam and had a grudge against Lu You.
In 1154, Lu You took the examination of the Ministry of Rites, and Qin Hui secretly warned others not to hire Lu You. It was not until Qin Hui died of illness that Lu You successfully entered the court as an official. At first he was the chief registrar of Ningde County, and later he was transferred to the capital and served as the director of Dali Temple, in charge of judicial work.
In 1162, Lu You proposed the Northern Expedition strategy to Song Xiaozong. However, the Southern Song Dynasty still advocated peace and was unwilling to continue the expedition. Later, because Lu You lobbied for the Northern Expedition, he was targeted and framed by the main peace faction. Lu You was forced to leave Beijing and dismissed from all official positions.
In 1172, Lu You served in Sichuan and lived for 5 years. Later, he was transferred to the capital and was appointed to Changping, Jiangxi Province, to manage water conservancy and granary matters.
Extended information
Personal achievements
The art of calligraphy
In Lu You’s life, in addition to poetry, calligraphy was his ideal Sustenance and eternal pursuit.
Judging from his poems about calligraphy and the surviving calligraphy handwriting and inscriptions on inscriptions, Lu You is good at three-body calligraphy, namely regular, running and cursive calligraphy, and is especially good at cursive calligraphy. Lu You's formal calligraphy, learned from the Jin and Tang Dynasties' calligraphers, is deep and powerful, full of charm, and has obvious regular script style of Yan Zhenqing; his running script and cursive script are based on the styles of Zhang Xu and Yang Ning, and are also influenced by Su Shi, Influenced by Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu and others, he pursues the compatibility of character and spirit more and pays attention to contrasting changes and rhythms.
Lu You's calligraphy slips are good at interlocking cursive and vertical strokes, and are elegant and straight. In his later years, his writing power was vigorous and unrestrained. Zhu Xi said that his writings were "exquisite and profound."
His "Self-written Poems Volume" still retains the brushwork style and customary brushwork he learned from Yan Zhenqing and Su Shi's calligraphy in his early years, but it also clearly integrates the strengths of Yang Ning's running script and Zhang Xu's cursive script. The brushwork, knotting and white lines are all integrated with the poem. Cheng Xun, a Ming Dynasty man, wrote in the postscript: "The poem is very fluent and the characters are also clear and vigorous". It is a rare masterpiece of calligraphy.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Luyou