Zen style calligraphy, the calligraphic style in Song, indicates the calligraphic works of Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Sokushi CHO that became popular among Zen priests in China, and with free and strong natures freed from codes and traditions in the Jin and Tang eras, the style was totally different from that of Wang Xizhi, employed during the Nara period and later, which used soft lines.
禅様とは宋代の書風で、中国の禅僧の間に流行した蘇軾、黄庭堅、米フツ、張即之などの書を指し、晋唐の規範や伝統から解放された自由剛健なもので、奈良朝以来行われた線の軟らかい王羲之風のものとは全く趣きを異にするものである。