According to tradition, in the sixth year of the Shaoxing reign, 1136 CE, Yue Fei led his army north to recover lost territory and appeared close to reclaiming the Central Plains. Emperor Gaozong of Song, however, was intent on negotiating peace and ordered Yue Fei to return to court. Deeply pained that the humiliation of the Jingkang Incident could not be avenged, Yue Fei wrote the stirring poem Man Jiang Hong amid intense emotion. Yue Fei was skilled in both literary composition and calligraphy, using them to express his ideals and loyalties. His writing drew from Tang masters such as Yan Zhenqing and the monk Huaisu, while gradually forming a personal style of bold, soaring energy. The brushwork is firm, vigorous, mature, and highly controlled, with lines that move freely and powerfully across the surface. In the history of Song calligraphy, besides the Four Great Masters Su, Huang, Mi, and Cai, Yue Fei also stands as an independent and distinguished calligrapher. Kang Youwei of the Qing dynasty praised the strength and depth of Yue Fei?s writing.