The content of this copybook centers on the life of Tao Yuan Ming (陶渊明), also known as Master Wu Liu (五柳先生). Tao (AD 365-427) was a prominent poet of the Six Dynasties period, and was much admired by major Song dynasty poets such as Su Shi and Huang Ting Jian. His poems generally depict an idyllic pastoral life of farming and drinking and came to be representative of the Fields and Gardens (田园诗) genre in Chinese poetry.The calligraphy in this copybook was by Zhao Zi Ang (赵子昂), also known as Zhao Meng Fu (赵孟𫖯). Zhao was an accomplished scholar, painter and calligrapher during the Yuan dynasty.Printed by the Shanghai Yu Gu Shan Fang Yun Xing (上海育古山房印行), this copy book was likely used in Chinese schools during the early- mid 20th century. Chinese schools would have their students practise calligraphy from such books to hone the students’ skills and expose them to Chinese culture and traditional values.
