Yan Xuezhang is a calligraphy and painting artist with a distinctive ideological personality. He is talented, diligent in studying and asking questions. He started learning calligraphy and painting at the age of 6, joined the army at the age of 20, transferred to the local Federation of Literary and Art Circles at the age of 28 and worked for 16 years, and went to Beijing at the age of 45. He always insisted on studying and creating calligraphy and painting, and writing literary and artistic theories, and gradually formed his own Art system - Chinese crab art. An overview of Yan Xuezhang's artistic growth can be roughly divided into four periods: "Han Brick" period In 1959, Yan Xuezhang was born into a poor peasant family in Wudi Town, Zaoyang City. Because his family was poor, he could not afford pens, ink, paper and inkstones for practicing calligraphy and painting. He was smart and came up with a way to practice calligraphy without using paper and ink: smoothen the tomb bricks left over from the Han Dynasty, and then use a pen dipped in water to practice writing on them. The "Lazy Soldier" Period In 1978, 20-year-old Yan Xuezhang entered the military camp and started a new life. He used his lunch break every day to practice calligraphy and painting on the bed board where he slept. Because he practiced calligraphy and painting on his bed, his bedding was often stained with ink. For this reason, Yan Xuezhang was inevitably criticized every time he checked his hygiene. For this reason, Yan Xuezhang wrote a couplet to ridicule himself: A lazy soldier has no choice but to cover himself with a blanket, and his sweaty feet feel cool when wearing shoes. "Fighting Landlords" period In 1986, Yan Xuezhang changed his job to a local government. Facing the authority that many people yearn for, Yan Xuezhang walked into the gate of Xiangfan Federation of Literary and Art Circles and truly began his journey of calligraphy and painting art. In the 16 years of working at the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, he has been selected for national exhibitions six times and won more than 30 level awards in national calligraphy and painting competitions. He has published nearly 100 theoretical and critical articles on calligraphy and painting, and more than one million words of literary works. Many theoretical articles have aroused widespread controversy. In the mid-to-late 1990s, playing the poker game "Duzhu" was very popular in many places. Yan Xuezhang said that during the hard days of creation, he was like a landlord being fought against. However, in this game of "fighting landlords", Yan Xuezhang "fighted" and won. Due to his long-term persistence in following his own creative path, Yan Xuezhang's calligraphy and painting gradually formed his own characteristics and was recognized by some people in the art circle. Later, someone wrote an article criticizing Yan Xuezhang's calligraphy as "cutting noodles with a knife and painting crab legs with a stroke." In this regard, he liked to make fun of him and simply named his font "Crab Body" and became a "Crab General".