Poem

Yu Youren wrote this poem in the "standardized" cursive script that he developed in the 1930s. While benefiting from his solid discipline in the stele tradition of calligraphy, Yu's round brushwork brims with inner strength and taut resilience in a style that is more raw than refined. The center of structural gravity of individual characters tends to be lower than normal to enhance their stability. The principal horizontal, vertical, or diagonal stroke in each character exudes sweeping power and weight.

Yu Youren's poetry in traditional genres ranks among the best in the Republican era. He insisted that poetry be easily accessible and employ rhyme schemes and tonal regulations used in modern Mandarin. In simple language, he invested his best works with intense emotions that are deeply moving but never sentimental such as the one transcribed here:

I don't believe that youth cannot be retrieved.
I will not allow our past glory to turn to ashes.
Recalling the banquet in Shanghai celebrating our victory,
I toast the ten thousand miles of streams and mountains with a cup of wine.

(trans. by Shi-yee Liu)