A Chinese Biographical Dictionary/Chang Hsü

by Herbert A. Giles

59Chang Hsü 張旭 (T. 伯高). 8th cent. A.D. A native of Soochow in Kiangsu, who flourished as a poet under the T'ang dynasty. He was one of the Eight Immortals of the Winecup (see Li Po), and is celebrated in the poems of Tu Fu and Kao Shih. He was distinguished as a calligraphist, and could turn out beautiful specimens of the "grass" character even when far gone in liquor, thus earning for himself the title of 草聖, the Divine Grassist. Under the excitement of art (and wine), he became oblivious of the decorum due to his surroundings, and would often fling off his cap in the presence of princes and nobles. Hence he came to be known as 張顛 Chang the Madman.