Xu Youzhen (June 16, 1407 - August 19, 1472), originally named Jue, also named Xuanyu (Yuanyu), also named Wu, and given the name Tianquan, was born in Wu County (now Fenghuang, Suzhou, Jiangsu). He is from Xiangli, Xiangji. Scholar and minister of China's Ming Dynasty.
When Xu Youzhen was in Beijing when she was young, she studied under Wu Nayou. In the fourth year of Xuande's reign (1429), he passed the examination with Wanping status in Shuntian. In the eighth year of Xuande's reign (1433), he passed the imperial examination and was elected as a Shujishi. He was later awarded the title of editor and lecturer of the Hanlin Academy. In the third year of Jingtai (1452), the Yellow River flooded north. Xu Youzhen was appointed as the censor of Youqiandu and took charge of the management of Shawan.
After comprehensive investigation and research, Xu Youzhen put forward the management strategy of "draining the water first, then controlling the water level, and dredging the silt" to restore the canal. He successively served as the censor of Zuo Qiandu, and for his restoration efforts, he became the Minister of the Ministry of War, the Grand Scholar of Huagaidian, and the title of Wugong Bo. He falsely accused Yu Qian and Wang Wen, and was later criticized by Shi Heng and Cao Jixiang, and was demoted to the people of Jinji (now Baoshan, Yunnan). After his release, he wandered around the mountains and rivers. In the eighth year of Chenghua (August 19, 1472), Xu Youzhen died of illness and was buried in Jiaoli Village at the foot of Yuzhe Mountain in the west of the city.
Achievements in calligraphy
Xu Youzhen is good at calligraphy and is good at running cursive. The small running script is particularly exquisite. The charm of Su and Mi Fu strives for change and has its own style. Zhu Mou'an's "Xu Shu Shi Hui Yao" of the Ming Dynasty commented that his calligraphy was "quaint and elegant, and he was famous at that time". Gu Fu of the Qing Dynasty commented on his books: "In the early years of martial arts, I learned a lot about calligraphy, and I had a state of being incomparable to Qiluo. In the middle age, I learned to be a king, and he followed the rules, and his ancient color was pale. In his later years, he was indulgent and unrestrained. This is called learning and Huaisu, and it is also called learning. Yuan Zhang."
Xu Youzhen is an important calligrapher who played a leading role in the rise of the Wu School of Calligraphy and has high artistic achievements in calligraphy. His disciple Wu Kuan and his grandson Zhu Yunming were personally taught and supported by him, and they were both famous figures in the literary world at that time. Li Xu of the Ming Dynasty had seen Xu Youzhen's early ink writings and thought his calligraphy and painting were "extremely beautiful" and praised him as "the crown of Wuzhong's art circle".
The above content refers to Baidu Encyclopedia-Xu Youzhen