As a prince before he ascended the throne, Xiao Yi did not covet the aristocratic life of drunkenness and dreams in the peaceful and prosperous era. He studied and wrote books very diligently, even though he was blind in one eye and could not read the books in person. He also had to make the bookboy read to him all night long. The ambition of writing books to become a family was always the ideal he strived for. He was born in a literary family, and his literary talent was very good. Among the emperors who achieved literary status in the past, the four Xiaos were comparable to the three Cao, and Xiao Yi was the best among the four Xiaos. His literary achievements were among the best. In the past five thousand years, Among the hundreds of emperors who appeared in Chinese history, they left the most abundant works, far more erudite and talented than Qianlong, who was known as the "Shiquan Old Man", and the only one who left behind the Jinlouzi, which is a sub-part of the theories of various schools of thought. , carving his name in the history of Chinese culture.
Although he does not have the level of thin gold calligraphy like Huizong of the Song Dynasty that has not been surpassed to this day, when it comes to painting skills, among the hundreds of emperors in the five thousand years of history, no one can surpass him. right. The tribute map he painted records the images of people from various small countries who came to pay tribute to Nanliang at that time. There are blond Persians and black people wearing only a piece of white cloth. Therefore, this is not only a rare sight in the history of art. It is a treasure and a very precious piece of information for studying the history of tribute in ancient China.
He was also knowledgeable and talented. Judging from the information handed down from the Sui Dynasty classics, his research patterns can be described as diverse and inclusive. In addition to his status as a writer, poet, scholar, emperor, painter, and calligrapher, he is also a music theorist. His research on traditional Chinese medicine can be awarded a doctorate today; his Go level is at least a nine-dan master, because He also wrote several books on chess records; he is a surname scholar and a master of metaphysics, and he still occupies a prominent position among many experts who study Zhouyi. Born in the Southern Dynasty, which valued literature over martial arts, he even wrote a military book called Jade Tao. What is even more surprising is that the scholar-officials in the Southern Dynasties were very disgusted with horse riding and thought it was something done by barbarians. However, Xiao Yi spared no effort to spend a lot of time on the research of horse breeding and wrote a monograph on horse research. It's called the Xianma Jing, and the research results in it are said to be beyond the level of Xianma expert Bole. He is also very interested in some heretical knowledge that is despised by honest people. He can even tell his own fortune and know the general trend of the world by observing the stars. His talent and knowledge are simply unmatched and all-encompassing.
But his artistic level and literary achievements are in sharp contrast with his personality.