However, more people immediately decided that it was an "ugly book" or that he was doodling. I don't think we can be so arbitrary. The person who came to this conclusion did not know calligraphy himself. People who have no basic knowledge of calligraphy are unwilling to study and understand deeply, so they will never make progress and can only be confined to their own knowledge.
Objectively speaking, Zhang Tie-Lin's calligraphy has its origins, and his calligraphy mainly learned from Zhang Ruitu, a calligrapher in the Qing Dynasty.
Zhang Ruitu's reputation in history is not very good, because he was an official of the Ming Dynasty, and later surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, so he was called the "Second Minister". As a traditional scholar-bureaucrat in China, I have read so many books of sages, and my heart is also very painful. He poured out his contradictions and pains in calligraphy and vented them through calligraphy works.
Zhang Ruitu's handwriting is very strange. He is good at swinging from side to side with a pen. His works are full of contradictions and turbulence, giving people a strong sense of visual impact. Today's calligraphers are afraid to learn his calligraphy without a good ability to control the writing brush.