Su Shi is talented, broad-minded, loyal to the monarch and patriotic. He emphasized doing promising things and reflecting current events, and was deeply influenced by the theory of poetry creation. At the same time, he believes that the source of poetry creation comes from the "direct search" in real life, and pays attention to expressing feelings directly, that is, "mystery" and "nature", so he writes with spirit, tact and naturalness. Predecessors learn from others' strengths and form their own school, showing a variety of styles, extensive content and far-reaching interests.
Huang Tingjian's thought is orthodox, paying attention to "moral articles", paying attention to the ethical education of poetry and prose, and paying equal attention to current affairs. He praised Du Fu's poems and never forgot the imperial court's thoughts on the monarch. But as far as the degree of intervention in reality is concerned, Huang Tingjian is far milder than Su Shi. Influenced by the Confucian tradition of being poor and happy, his own implicit aesthetic taste and the sinister external environment of the struggle between the old and the new parties, Huang Tingjian's poetry creation inherited the "gentle and sincere" style. When this introverted style became the source of poetry creation, Huang Tingjian also looked inward, focusing on books, that is, "making up the fake", hoping to perfect his thoughts in the classics, followed by being familiar with techniques. Different from Su Shi's poetry, Huang Tingjian knows the hardships of poetry creation. He pays attention to the tempering of poetry syntax, structural layout and the pursuit of plainness. He put forward the learning and creative methods of "turning stone into gold" and "taking fetus as bone", and also opened up some new syntax and artistic conception.
Therefore, it has the following characteristics.
1. Material selection: Su Shi pays attention to reflecting reality and politics, but the subject matter is also very extensive. Huang Tingjian pays more attention to expounding righteousness, with visiting the ancient times, chanting things and giving poems as the theme.
2. Theme: Su Shi presents a dreamy and illusory Zen theme. Su Shi's Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism merge, but the dominant ideology is still Confucianism. It is the cruel gap between the ideal of saving the world and the reality of Confucianism that produces such a Zen theme in literature. Influenced by Lin Ji's Zen Buddhism, Huang Tingjian's gentle and sincere poetry teaching runs through the theme of spiritual cultivation.
3. Artistic style: Su Shi pays attention to free play, and his poems are often not bound by the subject matter, but tend to escape, and his works are casual. He pursues to use the pen with vigor, gallop freely and write freely, so his poems are unpredictable, complex and traceless, but smooth and natural. Huang Tingjian basically writes poems along the topic, takes the theme as a clue to develop ideas, emphasizes the relevance of content, has clear ideas, and pursues a deliberately flat management.