There were many poets in the Song Dynasty, the more famous ones include Lu You, Wang Anshi, Su Shi, Yang Wanli, Fan Zhongyan, Fan Chengda, Xin Qiji, Liu Kezhuang, Huang Tingjian and so on. They left many masterpieces for future generations, such as "Plum Blossoms", "Quatrains", "Spring Night", "Shanxi Village Tour", etc.
The literature of the Song Dynasty was fully developed, with great achievements in poetry, lyrics, and prose. Although Song poetry is not as good as Tang poetry, it is far ahead of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The "Complete Poems of the Song Dynasty" that is being compiled contains more than 160,000 Song poetry works. Yang Wanli's poems are fresh and lively, focusing on natural scenery; Fan Chengda's poems are concerned about people's livelihood, and their style is elegant and graceful; Lu You's poems are famous for their patriotism, and his poems have neat antitheses, and later generations said that "good antitheses are used up by neglect." . Su Shi's poems are varied, free and easy, and good at various poetic styles. They can be described as unique, unrestrained and smart, and have become a major generation of Song poetry.