[3] After his father's death, Huang Tingjian was sent to Anhui to be further brought up by his uncle, Li Chang (李常,1027-1090), who was also possessed of a large library.

In 1072, Li Chang, his maternal uncle, and Sun Jue his father-in-law had shown examples of Huang Tingjian's works to the famous poet and New Policy opponent Su Shi (Dongpo).

Like, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian was known for good governance: light with taxes and empathetic with the common folk over whom they were placed in charge.

[11] Editing the official records of the previous emperor, in light of the factional politics which had ignited at that time and were still burning, would turn out to be a perilous undertaking for Huang Tingjian's future.

Obligatory retirement for a period of mourning in the case of the death of either parent was then the custom, and Huang returned to the family cemetery in Fenning, Jiangnan, with the remains of his mother, his two wives that had died, and those of an aunt.

While he was engaged in the three-year ritual mourning period, Empress Dowager Gao died, and Zhezong began to reign in fact as well as name.

Zhezong favored the reformist party, and their remnant members returned with a vengeance: their opponents alive or dead were persecuted: Su Shi was demoted and exiled, Sima Guang and Lü Gongzhu's tombs were defaced, and Huang Tingjian was denounced by Cai Bian (Wang Anshi's son-in-law).

He was also granted a sinecure position in Ezhou city, in southeastern Hubei (responsible for collecting tax revenues on salt), which meant that he received a salary or other remuneration; but, as he was not required to live or work there, this was not exile.

However, Huang Tingjian remained in Sichuan long enough to attend his son's marriage ceremony, to the daughter of a local official.

[13] Huang Tingjian awaited further developments at Ezhou, hearing no news about how the emperor intended to deal with his case, until the end of 1103.

And, as recently as 1052, the Zhuang leader Nong Zhigao had led a revolt, briefly making the area part of an independent kingdom.

Sending the then 58-year-old, sick and frail Huang Tingjian to an official exile in this remote and precarious position was not far from a death sentence.

He faced a fate similar to Su Shi Dongpo, who never quite made it back from his final exile in the then remote and undeveloped island of Hainan.

[15] Parting ways with his friend Zhongren, Huang Tingjian headed onward towards his destined place of banishment, Yizhou.

Once there, he continued his calligraphy, of which an ink rubbing survives, a rather pointed quote about the life of Fan Pang (137-169), who was arrested and executed due to getting caught up in factional politics, during the second of the Disasters of Partisan Prohibitions which occurred during the Han dynastic era.

His health problems included "beriberi, severe coughs and colds, malarial fever, headaches, dizziness, and in his later years, heart trouble and chest and arm pains.

"[18] Huang Tingjian also had a deep interest in medicinal substances, and at one point seriously mulled over the idea of giving up his aspirations for an official career, in favor of opening up a shop and dealing in herbs and herbal medications.

[21] Huang Tingjian is noted for his prodigious talent in terms of his vast knowledge of Classical Chinese poetry and literature.

His xingshu (semi-cursive style of script) displays a sharpness and aggression that is instantly recognizable to students of Chinese calligraphy.

His calligraphic piece Biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru epitomises a technique today known as "flying-white" "when writing calligraphy, the areas within a brushstroke where the brush fails to leave a full measure of ink and streaks of white paper or silk appear".