铁板铜琶 — “Describes a grand”

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the renowned poet Su Shi went on an outing with his attendants. As he admired the golden cockscomb chrysanthemums growing on the cliff, his attendants began to sing some of Su Shi's own lyrics.

Su Shi then asked them to compare his lyrics with those of Liu Yong, another famous lyricist of the time.

The attendants responded, 'Mr. Liu Yong's lyrics are best suited for a seventeen-year-old girl, holding red ivory clappers, singing 'The lingering moon under the willows, with the morning breeze.' However, your lyrics, sir, demand a burly man from Guansi, holding iron clappers, singing 'The Great River flows east.'

This anecdote highlights the distinctive, bold, powerful, and majestic style of Su Shi's poetry, which was likened to the vigorous and strong accompaniment provided by iron clappers and a powerful voice.