Throughout his life, Lu You used poetry as a weapon to express his strong feelings of resisting the enemy and aggression and recovering the Central Plains, as well as his anxiety and anger. His imposing manner, unrestrained feelings, elegant brushwork and crisp words have far-reaching influence in the history of China literature.
He wrote a lot in his life, with more than 9300 poems, covering all aspects of social life in the early Southern Song Dynasty. He is the poet with the most extant poems in ancient China.
Lu You's poems cover a wide range, covering almost every field of social life in the early Southern Song Dynasty. According to the content, it can be roughly divided into four aspects: persisting in resisting gold and cracking down on capitulationists; Express impassioned enthusiasm for serving the country and grief and indignation of unpaid ambition; Describe rural scenery and daily life; Love poems.