In the 25th year of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty (1686), Wang was born in Fuxi Township, Xiuning County, Anhui Province, which is a famous tea-producing area. About Wang's early life and study in his hometown, it is still a mystery, and the world knows very little. He left Huizhou for Yangzhou on 1723 at the age of 37.
It is said that Wang is usually taciturn and never mentions his past and hometown when dealing with people. According to common sense analysis, Wang's experience in his hometown must be hidden. What is the reason is unclear. Wang's first half of his life can be found in his works.
The first is Wang's painting. Many calligraphers and painters leave their native places in their autographs. This is to "win glory" for my hometown, or it is simply a habit, but at least it can let the viewer know where the author is from. Wang often writes "Fuxi Wang" in his paintings, and sometimes "Dong Xi Waishi". Therefore, people had to look for the king's residence in the east of Fuxi, Xiuning.
Plum Blossoms of the King in Qing Dynasty, Cleveland Art Museum, USA.
Secondly, from Wang Yisheng's nickname used many times, later generations can know that he may be the sixth family, and people call him "Liu Wang" or "Mr.".
Once again, Wang's poem. Wang left a collection of poems, Nest Forest Collection. In this collection of poems, two poems clearly reveal his life experience. One is:
Recalling the past youth, how generous.
Accept loyalty, laughter and sadness.
From this poem, you can't seem to see that the teenager in those days is now a man of few words. Of course, this will naturally remind people that this ambitious, generous and laughing young man may have encountered setbacks and bumps in his later life and gradually become like a puppet.
Another poem is:
No longer need to live in their own country.
The message is that old friends want to pity me, and I pity Chunhui everywhere.
Wang Qing Shen Shi Flower Landscape Map Album
What's the matter with being an "old man" but not having a home? Do you have any problems with the villagers? Is it the other members of the family who won't let me? However, although he has left his "hometown", he still hopes that the "old friend" can sympathize with him and forgive him: he is in the mood to repay his parents' parenting, but he can't because he is in a foreign land! This poem can make people read Wang's helplessness in leaving his hometown ... helpless pain.
In these works left by Wang, people can't find the relationship between him and his teachers in writing poems, painting, practicing calligraphy and seal cutting, as if he were a geek without a teacher.
The plum blossom map of Wang in Qing dynasty
Sell paintings and buy new houses
At the age of 37, Wang came to Yangzhou with his family and went to his fellow villagers Ma Yueyan and Ma Yuelu. The Ma brothers in Qimen, Huizhou, have been managing salt industry in Yangzhou, and they were already famous in Yangzhou at that time. The Ma brothers have a typical "good Confucianism" quality. They are particularly willing to make friends with intellectuals and are also very generous to them. As long as they have good words, good paintings and good books, they may become their good friends. The "Little Linglong Mountain Museum Series" they carved is very famous, and many of the precious books are on the verge of disappearing, all of which were bought by his brothers at high prices, and then first-class sculptors were hired to carve them, which played a very good role in document inheritance.
The arrival of fellow painter Wang was warmly welcomed by the Ma brothers. Brother Ma arranged him in his own "Seven Peak Pavilion". This pavilion was originally a "salon" for the Ma brothers to receive literati at home. After the king came, the Ma brothers asked someone to make the pavilion into a house and let the Wangs live here. Because there are seven huge stones scattered around this pavilion, which look like seven peaks, Wang Sui named this new house "Qifeng Caotang" and renamed it "Qifeng Jushi".
Wang Qing Shen Shi Flower Landscape Map Album
An important external reason for Wang to come to Yangzhou is that Yangzhou is a famous town and a prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River. The economy here is prosperous, the painting style is smooth, and calligraphy and painting have a good market. After Wang came, he began to sell paintings. But this painter from the deep mountains in southern Anhui obviously can't adapt to this environment. Ma Yueyan once wrote a poem, saying that he "loves tea and has tea classics to read, so he can paint shame and reward directly". This means that when Wang sells paintings, he is embarrassed to bargain with the buyer.
Do Wang's paintings sell well? What's the price? There is no direct basis for modern people to answer this question, but the actual situation shows that it is not easy for Wang to make a living by painting. In the era of Wang, copying ancient paintings was very popular in society, which was more popular in the market, while Wang's paintings had a strong taste of literati painting and a style of "learning from nature", that is, playing more freely. Because of this contradiction, Wang's paintings will naturally not have a good market, as he himself said: "Laughter has become a lonely tune. Embarrassed into the world. " Laugh at yourself, but never go with the flow.
Since I'm "embarrassed" to sell paintings, I'll give them to some dealers.
The border guards in Huai 'an took 10 painting from Wang. Soon, I sent a message saying that I had sold four copies and got "328 yuan of silver", which was already a very low price at that time. At this time, Fang Fangcun, a painter, came to help Wang sell paintings. Because the village knows the calligraphy and painting market very well, cash-strapped Wang is willing to listen to his advice. On one occasion, Fangfang made an appointment with Wang to go to Ningbo by boat to sell paintings. During this trip, Wang was very excited. He not only made money by selling paintings, but also opened his eyes by crossing the river.
Wang Qing Shen Shi Flower Landscape Map Album
It is difficult for Wang to have any savings by selling his own paintings and letting his friends sell them on his behalf. At the age of 48, he entrusted the Ma brothers to find an old house for him in Yangzhou City. At that time, 48 years old was an old man. At this time, Wang finally had his own "home" and his own studio.
Narcissus camellia
Around Wang's new house, there are all kinds of flowers, plum blossom is the most planted, followed by camellia, which can often be seen in his paintings. Under his front window, there are jasmine, gardenia, morning glory, peony and pear, and a tall fir tree. These flowers, in Wang's paintings, are mostly Leng Yan, bleak and gaunt. Later generations think that this is a portrayal of Wang's real life. Wang's new house is covered with dense trees, so Wang named his new house "Lvshan Bookstore". Since then, Wang's calligraphy and paintings created in this house have been proudly written in Qingshan Bookstore.
Blind painters and painters
As the "first eccentric" among the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou, Wang's accomplishments in painting and calligraphy are universally recognized, but his experiences are little known.
The National Map of Wang Xiang in Qing Dynasty in the Palace Museum in Beijing.
In the year when Joe moved to Qingshan Bookstore, Wang suffered from eye diseases. His eyes are hot and painful, especially his left eye. His eyes were bloodshot, swollen and watery. For an ordinary person, the importance of eyes is self-evident, let alone a painter who observes the world with his eyes. But Wang had no money to seek medical treatment, so he had to endure the torture of eye diseases.
In Wang's life, there is a phenomenon worthy of people's attention: after suffering from eye diseases, he frequently went out to travel. Some people think that this is Wang's full expectation of the consequences of his eye disease ―― he wants to see the world fully before he goes blind.
His eye disease is getting worse and worse, but in order to make a living, he has to continue painting. At the age of 54, he finally became blind in his left eye after painting a plum blossom. Perhaps I was psychologically prepared, so I didn't show how depressed I was, but I was optimistic and open-minded, and continued to paint, saying that my creation was "staring at the cold flowers alone." Zheng Banqiao, one of the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou at that time, commented that his paintings were of "extremely high quality". In the second year of his blindness in his left eye, he created a begging picture, in which an old man "collected" snow with an urn; This is used for frying tea with snow water. Zheng Banqiao wrote an inscription for this painting, calling it "Four Dawn Smoke in Chai Men's urn, the painting is interesting and fascinating". Draw like a man. Through this painting, people can appreciate the noble quality of the king.
Wang Qing Shen Shi Flower Landscape Map Album
However, Wang's misfortune does not stop there. The left eye is blind and the pain in the right eye is aggravated. In this regard, Wang is very calm. It seems to him that it is only a matter of time before he goes blind in his right eye. So, before he lost his observation ability, he looked at the flowers and the scenery as much as possible. The second is to organize your own poetry collection. A common feature of "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" is the combination of painting and poetry, which is regarded as an important feature of literati painting of "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" by later generations. It is generally believed that Wang's poems are well written. In the fourth year after he lost his sight in his left eye, he collected his poems into four volumes and named them Nest Forest Collection. Together with later poems, his "Nest Forest Collection" collected seven volumes of poetry. Of course, Wang really wants to engrave his poems, but his financial resources are obviously beyond his ability. It is brother Ma, a fellow villager, who understands Wang. His seven-volume collection of poems, Nest Forest Collection, was finally carved by Brother Ma. For Wang, it is of course the most satisfying thing for him to see his poems published and printed before he went blind.
At the age of 66, misfortune befell Wang again, and he was blind. For a painter, it goes without saying. At this time, he can only observe the world and life by his own "heart", so he gave himself an interesting name-Dao Xin.
Wang Qing Shen Shi Flower Landscape Map Album
Two years later, in the early spring, there was a sudden heavy snow, and the world was white. Jin Nong, one of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", sat in front of his house and enjoyed the snow scene in front of him with great interest. Excited, he closed the door and went back to the house to paint.
After a while, someone knocked at the door. The dog outside the door also barked. Jinnong put down his pen and went to open the door.
Ah! It's Wang! It was a child who led him here. Wang had been blind for several years and came to the golden farmhouse in this weather.
Wang Qing Shen Shi Flower Landscape Map Album
Two people are drinking hot tea and talking about calligraphy and painting. Speaking of high spirits, Wang excitedly groped for his pen with his hand. Does he want to write or draw? Jinnong is also very excited. He quickly spread out the paper for the king, studied the ink, and handed the pen to the king. Wang created a cursive script with his own feelings! As Jin Nong watched, tears streamed down his face. Who can believe that this crazy grass work is written by a blind man who is blind? Jin Nong couldn't help but leave a long poem of his own on the edge of this work:
Shuang Ye hasn't heard human voices for a long time.
Suddenly, I knocked at the door in shock.
The yellow dog barked and dressed to say hello.
Duh, blind people have no worldly feelings.
The words in the sleeves are as big as buckets,
When you write, you are in trouble.
The heart is light and empty,
How many beautiful teenagers are there now,
With eyes and hands,
But I saw a piece of paper with ugly pens upside down.
It's not ominous that I'm blind,
Dude, what happened to the soft fork?
Warm and rich meals a day with kapok fur,
Come back to the deserted temple tomorrow and talk about the sunset.
Wang Qing Shen Shi Flower Landscape Map Album
In Jin Nong's view, what about those young people who have eyes and hands ("beautiful teenagers")? Just write "ugly"! Wang Shenshi, the blind man in front of him, is so noble and unpretentious ("heartless"). Blindness is not ominous, but "soft feet" can still walk and run, and come to talk with my brother another day-what kind of detached blind artist is this?
Of course, there must be a reason for Wang to continue to visit his bosom friend after he became blind, but I haven't heard of it since he started writing Crazy Grass. How he spent the next few years is unknown. What people know is that this outstanding artist died in 1759, that is, at the age of 74.
Wang Qing Shen Shi Flower Landscape Map Album