⬅️ 唐诗 Tang Poems
Zhang Xu (张旭，about 685-759 AD) was a poet of Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). He was from a well-connected family and held various advisory positions but it seemed he did not advance with his political career due to his unrestrained personality. He was one of the "eight immortals of wine cup", which referred to eight poets of Tang Dynasty who indulged themselves in alcohol drinking. One of Zhang Xu's poems was selected in the poetry anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems.
However, what makes Zhang Xu go down in history is not his poem, but his calligraphy. His explosive cursive script calligraphy, together with Li Bai's poems and Pei Min's sword dance were called "The Three" by their contemporaries. It was said Zhang Xu often used his hair as brush to perform his art after he was drunk. Therefore he got himself a nickname "Mad Zhang", paired with another cursive calligrapher Huai Su (怀素，737-799 AD) who was called "Drunk Su". The style of Zhang Xu's cursive scrip was wild and elegant yet without breaking the rules of calligraphy.
