After a long period of incubation and development in the Qin and Han dynasties, the art of calligraphy has entered a mature stage from the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and has become the most ideal art form for the ancient Chinese scholars to cultivate their spirit and express their emotions.

Calligraphers of different dynasties have also formed different styles in expressing emotions and the author's aesthetic taste due to their specific social, cultural conditions and author's spiritual temperament. For example, after the Sui and Tang Dynasties, calligraphy has further developed towards neatness and stylization. Song opened a new chapter in the "shangyi" calligraphy; in the Yuan Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy was refined and beautiful.

In the Ming Dynasty, the early period was still the continuation of the Song and Yuan calligraphy, showing overall skill and elegance; in the middle period, the literati living in the Wumen area were the first to break through the "Taiwan style" under the product of the imperial power and renewed innovation. After a period of deliberation and practice, the Wu School School of Calligraphy appeared during the Zhengde and Jiajing reigns, with Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhengming, Wang Chong, and Chen Chun as the most prosperous among the "Four Masters in Wuzhong". In the later period, under the influence of Zen Buddhism and Li Zhi's thoughts, represented by Dong Qichang and Xu Wei, they showed two different creative attitudes and artistic styles. The former was led by Dong Qichang and the Yunjian School of Calligraphy with Songjiang area calligraphers at its core tried to express one transcendent artistic conception, pursuing simplicity and etherealness; the latter was led by Xu Wei, followed by Zhang Ruitu, Ni Yuanlu, Wang Duo, Fu Shan and other maverick calligraphers in the late Ming Dynasty.