Zhang Xu is free and easy, generous, outstanding, brilliant and knowledgeable. Du Fu befriended Li Bai and He Hao, and was listed as the "Eight Immortals of Drinking". He is a master of cursive script with great personality. Because he is often drunk, clamoring for madness, then writing books, and even writing with his hair dipped in ink, he has the nickname "Zhang Dian". After Huai Su inherited and developed his brushwork, he also got his name from cursive script and called it "drunk". Zhang Xu is unrestrained, likes to drink, often dances after getting drunk, and then returns to the table with a pen and ink. Some people called him rude and gave him a crazy nickname. In fact, he is very careful. He believes that everything he touches in his daily life can inspire his writing. To get something occasionally is to melt it into your own calligraphy. At that time, as long as people got a piece of his paper, they all regarded it as a treasure, and it was hereditary and true. Zhang Xu's calligraphy began with Zhangzhi and Erwang, with cursive script as the highest achievement.
History is called "the sage of grass". He himself is proud of inheriting the tradition of "two kings" and writes very well. On the other hand, he imitated Zhang Zhi's cursive art and created an unpredictable wild grass, which shocked the world. According to legend, he saw the princess arguing with her husband, and he heard the advocacy and got the meaning of brushwork; When I was in Yexian County, Henan Province, I loved watching Gong Sundaniang dance the sword of Xihe River, so I got the grass god. Yan Zhenqing resigned twice and asked him for his brushwork. Zhang Xu is a pure artist. He pours his emotions into stippling, and no one looks at it, and he is as intoxicated as a madman. Tang Hanyu praised in "Preface to Send a Noble Sage to a Master": "Emotion, embarrassment, sadness, happiness, resentment, longing, drunkenness, boredom and injustice, if moving in the heart, must be expressed in cursive script. Looking at things, we can see mountains and rivers, cliffs and canyons, birds, animals, insects, fish and flowers, the sun, the moon and stars, storms and fires, lightning and thunder, singing and dancing battles, and changes in heaven and earth. Congratulations, one is in one book, so the book of Xu is still as unpredictable as ghosts and gods, and it will eventually be praised by later generations. "
Xiong Bingming's "China and calligraphy theory System" said: "Zhang Xu is an extremely important figure in the history of China's calligraphy. The Wild Grass he created limited the development of free expression. If you are more free, the words will be difficult to identify and calligraphy will become an abstract painting. " After Zhang Xu died, everyone missed him very much. For example, after Du Fu entered Shu, he was very sad to see Zhang Xu's ink, so he wrote a cursive script of Yang Jian in the temple for Zhang Xu to see. In the poem, he said: the Sri Lankan people are dead in the clouds, and the grass is secret. I am so annoyed and full of sadness when I see this. In his poem To Zhang Xu, Li Qi said: The top of the bed is called three or five times. Xing lai wall, pen like a meteor. You can see how much you love Zhang Xu. To commemorate Zhang Xu, Changshu people still keep a "drunken street" near the square tower at the east gate of the city until today.
In the old days, there was also a "Cao Sheng Temple" in the city. A couplet in the temple said: "The book has become a god, and the paper has fallen. Today's ancient games spread eight laws; Drunken people call themselves cursive saints, who are full of wind and rain, and want to drink three cups when they are old, expressing the deep respect of the Yi people for cursive saints. Zhang Xu's wash pen inkstone pool has also been preserved for a long time, and it is called "Xiyan Lake". Zhang Xu Cao Sheng Temple will be built in Suzhou in Tang Dynasty. Located on the west side of Tang Yin's tomb, all of them are ancient building materials. Caosheng Temple will be built into a building similar to Lanting in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, which will display the artistic achievements of Zhang Xu's calligraphy and become a place for literati pen meetings at home and abroad. Suzhou people are proud of calligrapher Zhang Xu. Zhang Xu is also the pride and glory of the Chinese nation.