Su Shih was a famous man of letters in the history of Chinese literature . In the field of Chinese calligraphy, he and three of his contemporaries-Huang Ting-chien, Tsai Hsiang and Mi Fei-were called 〝four grand masters of the Sung Dynasty.〞The 〝Cold Food Observance〞represents Su's calligraphic style.Treasured by connoisseurs of all dynasties, the 〝observance〞is 189 cm in width and 34.2 cm in height, with a 16-line poem written in Hsing shu, a type of calligraphy which is excuted with great rhythmic skill and vitality. The poem, which is composed of 120 characters, describes the considerable hardship and unhappiness of life that Su has suffered during his period of demotion and banishment.