The four scholars of the Su family are Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan, Chao Buzhi, and Zhang Lei. These four people all came from Su Shi's family, and Su Shi admired these four people the most, so These four people were also put together by Su Shi for publicity, so these four people were called the Four Scholars of the Su family. And among these four people, it is actually difficult to say who has achieved the greatest achievement. Because these four people are good at each.
Huang Lianjian, what he is good at is poetry. When it comes to writing poems, he and Su Shi are collectively called "Su Huang". Moreover, Huang Tingjian is also very good in calligraphy, so he is also a good poet. Su Shi was also listed as one of the four great masters of the Song Dynasty. Although Qin Guan's poems and prose are also excellent, his words are the most outstanding. Chao Buzhi has made achievements in all aspects, but precisely because he has to deal with all aspects, he has no specialties. Zhang Lei was the least famous among the four, but he was also a remarkable figure at the time.
But if you have to choose one, the most famous and accomplished among these four people should be Huang Tingjian, so let’s talk about Huang Tingjian here. Huang Tingjian was born in the Qingli period. When he was young, he was a very smart child. He could recite the book after reading it only a few times. His uncle once went to his house to ask him questions, and he picked up any book on the shelf and asked him. He didn't know anything, so he was considered a rare genius at the time. After Huang Tingjian became a Jinshi, he took the examination for academic officials in the four capitals. After seeing his poems, Su Shi thought that Huang Tingjian's poems were extraordinary and among the few good poems in the world. It was under Su Shi's praise that Huang Tingjian's reputation began to spread far and wide.
Huang Tingjian learned his poetry from Du Fu. He emphasized that "no words, no origin", but most of his poems are about personal daily life. Huang Tingjian is also the founder of the Jiangxi School of Poetry, which is a poetry school with Du Fu as its ancestor. This school was also deeply influenced by Huang Tingjian. Most of his poems were based on life and attached great importance to the elaboration of words.