南宋 理宗 行書秋深雨過聯句 團扇

Lizong was the finest calligrapher among the Song emperors who came after Gaozong (r. 1127–62). While his predecessors followed Gaozong's style, Lizong developed his own unique manner, which was distinguished by angular brushstrokes with straight rapid brush movements—in contrast to the slower, more rounded brushstrokes of Gaozong—and by his preference for Tang, rather than Jin, dynasty models.

This couplet may well describe the beauty of West Lake, site of the Southern Song imperial palace:

Deep in the autumn, waters are clear to the bottom [of the lake],

After rain, blueness extends across the sky.

Credit: Bequest of John M. Crawford Jr., 1988