Lu You has many literary talents, especially his achievements in poetry. There are more than 9,300 poems handed down in the past 60 years, which can be roughly divided into three periods: before entering Shu at the age of 46, they tended to be calligraphic.
The period from entering Shu to retiring at the age of 64 is the mature period of his poetry creation, and it is also a period of great changes in his poetry style. He changed from "algae painting" in his early years to pursuing unrestrained style, full of fighting atmosphere and patriotic passion; After living in his hometown of Yin Shan in his later years, his poetic style tends to be simple and plain, showing an idyllic flavor, and from time to time revealing desolate life feelings.
Other achievements:
Calligraphy: Lu You is good at three-body calligraphy, namely regular script, running script and cursive script. Lu You's orthographic calligraphy, based on Jin and Tang calligraphy, is profound, vigorous and full of charm, with obvious Yan Zhenqing regular script style; His running script and cursive script adopted Zhang Xu and Yang Ningshi, and were influenced by Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fei and others. They pursue the harmony of personality and spirit, and pay attention to the change and rhythm of contrast.
Historiography: Lu You's historical achievement lies in his privately written Book of Southern Tang Dynasty.