Mr. Qi Gong is a famous contemporary calligrapher and painter. In addition, he also has many titles, including educator, classical philologist, connoisseur, red scholar, poet, and master of Chinese studies. Mr. Qi Gong has a wide range of interests in the field of traditional culture. He is knowledgeable in many disciplines and has made fruitful research results. He is a respected scholar. His friend Huang Miaozi also calls Qi Lao "Mr. Wentong".
Ordinary people’s understanding of Qi Gong mostly focuses on his famous calligraphy and painting works. In fact, this is just one aspect of Mr. Qi. In order to comprehensively introduce Qi Gong's life and his research results in various fields, Zhao Rengui, a retired professor at the School of Liberal Arts of Beijing Normal University, wrote a "Critical Biography of Qi Gong", which made a comprehensive and systematic evaluation of Qi Gong.
Professor Zhao Rengui is one of the first batch of graduate students of Qi Gong. He has followed Qi Gong for nearly 30 years and has been committed to the topic of "Qi Gong Research" for a long time. He is not only familiar with Qi Gong's academic achievements, but also familiar with Qi Gong's life. Therefore, in this "Critical Biography of Qigong", he strives to show readers a "complete Qigong, real Qigong, and living Qigong".
Qigong named his residence "Jianjingju". The name is taken from an inkstone he collected. It was a Duan inkstone used by Emperor Kangxi. It was engraved with the imperial inscription of Kangxi: "Punch a stone to get its hardness, and a spoonful of water to get its purity."
"Jianjing" can be said to be an accurate portrayal of Qi Gong's character.
Zhao Rengui divided Qi Gong’s life into three parts: loneliness in childhood, bumpy middle age, and spring in his later years. Qigong was able to overcome the hardships in the first half of his life and finally reach the peak of his life and career in his later years, relying on his "firm and pure" character.
When Qigong was just one year old, his father Hengtong died of lung disease. Qigong had to rely on the help of his great-grandfather and grandfather for his life and enlightenment education at a young age. Unfortunately, when Qigong was ten years old, his great-grandfather also passed away, and his life was once again in trouble. Since then, Qi Gong, his mother, and his aunt's family have relied on the aid raised by his grandfather's disciples to maintain their basic livelihood. Although his family was in decline and his life was poor, Qigong never complained and always cherished learning opportunities. He diligently learned ancient Chinese, poetry, calligraphy, painting and other aspects of knowledge from all the teachers he met, laying a solid foundation in literature and art.
When Qigong was eighteen years old, the aid ran out and Qigong had to drop out of Huiwen Middle School. Soon, Qi Gong followed his mother's orders and married the virtuous and kind-hearted wife Zhang Baochen, and worked hard to shoulder the burden of life for a family of four. After that, Qigong met his mentor Chen Yuan, and with Chen Yuan's help, he entered Fu Jen Catholic University to teach three times. Not only did he solve the difficulties in life, but he also embarked on a career path of teaching and research.
In fact, Qigong had a prominent family background and was the ninth generation grandson of Emperor Yongzheng. However, the noble royal blood not only failed to give him a wealthy life and a superior future, but also brought him more trouble than others in middle age during special periods. Therefore, Qi Gong often said: "My surname is Qi Ming Gong. I will not eat from my ancestor Aisin Gioro, nor take a penny from my ancestors. I should not be a disciple of the Eight Banners." Throughout his life, Qi Gong has always been self-reliant in learning. Achievements are achieved through hard work and perseverance.
During the "mid-life bumpy" stage, Qi Gong suffered multiple blows in his career. He was demoted and had his salary cut, making his life even more difficult. However, he did not get depressed because of this. Instead, he turned hardships into opportunities. For example, he took the opportunity of copying newspapers to continue practicing calligraphy. Occasionally, he would take a break from the busy work and grab a piece of paper and draw a small picture to adjust his mood, pleasure his body and mind, and temporarily Forget your worries. During the painful period when his mother, aunt, and especially his wife died of illness, Qi Gong wrote poems to express his deep condolences and longing for his relatives.
The first half of Qi Gong's life was full of ups and downs, but he always relied on his perseverance to overcome each difficulty. What's more valuable is that he can not only resist hardships with "firmness", but also maintain a peaceful mind with "purity". He always maintains a pure heart, looks down on suffering, and even more on the people who bring him suffering. He does not complain or care, and is broad-minded.
With the help of his mentor Chen Yuan, Qigong entered Fu Jen Catholic University to teach three times. In fact, Zhang Huai was fired the first two times because of his low academic qualifications.
But he never resented Zhang Huai for this, but was grateful that Zhang Huai's actions inspired him to work harder in disguise. Therefore, after Zhang Huai's death, Qi Gong sincerely sent an elegiac couplet: "The success of my work is beyond my expectation; I will repay you with kindness, and I will not say it until I die."
In his later years, when he was approaching the peak of his career, Qi Gong still adhered to his "firm and pure" character, being upright and innocent, neither humble nor arrogant, sticking to the bottom line without losing his humanity.
Mr. Qi became famous all over the world in his later years, and many strangers came here because of his fame. Some wanted to get a picture of Mr. Qi's calligraphy, and some even just wanted to meet the real person. If someone uses power to pressure others or tempts them with money, Qi Gong will simply refuse without fear of offending these people. On the contrary, when participating in activities, he is willing to send words to those hard-working and simple ordinary employees to encourage them.
"Strong and pure" is Qi Gong's lifelong pursuit of character. Regardless of the ups and downs in the first half of his life or the success and fame in his later years, Qi Gong always maintains a "firm and pure" heart, smiling at suffering and looking down on fame and fortune. , be true to yourself.
Qi Gong has profound attainments in poetry, calligraphy, painting, appraisal and other aspects. These admirable achievements are all due to his ability to learn from others' strengths and integrate them into everything in his studies. On the basis of imitating predecessors, constantly pondering and practicing more, he finally formed his own unique creative style. Moreover, he never completely separated different arts, such as poetry, calligraphy, and painting, but melted them into one, complementing each other and bringing out the best in each other.
First let’s talk about “博”. When Qi Gong learns each art, he is willing to take the initiative to learn from different teachers and experts, and learn from many teachers. In addition, a lot of energy will be spent studying and studying the works of the ancients. Behind "bo" is "diligence" that is beyond ordinary people.
In order to learn painting, Qigong first learned "layman painting" from Jia Ximin, and then learned "professional painting" from Wu Jingting. In addition, he was also deeply taught by the words and deeds of Fu Xinshe, Pu Xuezhai, Qi Baishi and others. Pu Xuezhai believed that poetry should be given priority in the art of calligraphy and painting, and advocated learning poetry first before learning painting, which also profoundly influenced Qi Gong.
In order to learn poetry, Qigong first recited a large number of ancient poems. Many poems from the "Book of Songs", poems from the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties, poems from the Tang and Song dynasties, poems from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and modern poems were memorized. Moreover, he not only selected famous poems to memorize, but also memorized some excellent but obscure poems.
In order to learn appraisal, Qi Gong often followed Jia Ximin to the Forbidden City. While looking at ancient works, he listened to Mr. Jia’s explanation of the style and artistic conception of paintings. He also learned from Wu Jingting the brushwork techniques and unique styles of famous ancient painters. Determine whether the work belongs to the corresponding painter's habits in terms of brush usage and style. In addition, I also learned a lot of physical appraisal knowledge from teachers such as Su Tifu, Li Mengdong, Sun Zhonglian and other folk experts in Liulichang.
When learning every art and knowledge, Qi Gong can learn from the strengths of others, learn from many teachers and learn from many works.
The second is "fusion". On the basis of "extensive reference and natural digestion", we have integrated and gradually formed a personal creative style. The process of "integration" also requires "diligence". It requires a lot of practice, more thinking, and more speculation in order to continue to improve.
In terms of painting, Qi Gong started by copying and imitating ideas in his early days to hone his pen and ink skills. Shen Shichong's "Taoyuan Picture", which Qi Gong came across when he was young, also wrote in the inscription and postscript that "it imitates the Yuan Dynasty's brushwork". After accumulating more, it is compatible with various schools and integrated into one. While learning from the ancients, it also innovates, just like the red mountains and forests are the main color in "River and Mountain Sunset", the use of colors is very bold, and finally gradually formed own style.
In terms of calligraphy, Qigong learned calligraphy from his grandfather since he was a child. He first learned Ouyan, and copied the "Jiucheng Palace Liquan Picture" and "Duobao Pagoda Stele". Later, he also copied Zhao Mengfu's "Dengba Stele" and Dong Qichang's The calligraphy, "Zhang Menglong Monument" and so on were copied one by one, and finally the "Qi Ti" was formed, which has the great beauty of "producing fine grain in ancient simplicity and conveying taste in indifference". Zhao Rengui commented on the characteristics of "Qi Ti", "It is beautiful and meaningful, soft on the outside and strong on the inside, flowing and graceful, natural and free, the knots are dignified and striving for elegance, the stipples are easy and smooth and natural, the overall calligraphy style is straight and charming, full of natural vitality and It is full of vitality and full of bookishness and literati spirit."
Qi Gong's calligraphy has a "bookish and literati style", and Qi Gong's paintings are also "literary paintings". Mr. Qi once said: "The teachers who taught me painting are all literati, and my paintings are also typical literati paintings in the traditional sense." Qi Gong's paintings are good at "expressing the feelings outside the painting through the scenes in the painting", which is full of poetry. This also shows that Qigong is also well versed in the three arts of poetry, calligraphy and painting, and his profound knowledge is naturally revealed in his works.
Qi Gong is very talented and often has original insights in academic research. He has produced many works throughout his life, some of which are serious and professional academic research results, including "A Treatise on Ancient Fonts", "A Treatise on Rhythm in Poems", "A Treatise on Chinese Phenomenon", etc., as well as a large number of poems, calligraphy, paintings and other artistic works.
Qigong is knowledgeable and has an amazing memory. When talking to people, he can often blurt out a lot of knowledge without looking up it at all. He is simply a "living computer". His good friend Huang Miaozi once said, "Mr. Qi has a treasure box. He shows it to others when he is happy. No one has seen how many treasures are hidden in this box."
No matter how profound he is in knowledge, Qi Gong is very humble and humorous in his daily life and work. This is the true temperament of this learned master.
When Qi Gong gave lectures in his later years, he often used such a humorous opening statement: "Someone writes a book and establishes a theory, which can be called 'a certain theory', such as Qianjia's annotation of Du's poems, and there is a 'Qiu' (Zhao'ao) Said "Qian (Qian Yi) said" and so on. Hu Shi once used it and called it "nonsense". I am a Manchu, and the Manchu people were called Hu people in ancient times, so what I said can be called "nonsense". And it’s real bullshit”. Later, because his vision was affected by macular degeneration, he added "nonsense" after "nonsense". Such a humble and humorous opening statement suddenly brought him closer to the audience and students, and successfully enlivened the atmosphere of the whole room.
In addition to many elegant poems that are very particular in wording, allusion and rhythm, Qi Gong also often wrote poems similar to "doggerel". These poems are popular and interesting, but not frivolous and glib at all. They also show Qi Gong's calmness and optimistic and transparent life wisdom after going through many hardships.
Qi Gong's "Self-Written Epitaph" is a typical example: "Middle school student, associate professor. Not knowledgeable, not professional. Although he is famous, it is not enough. He can't achieve high things, but he can't do low things. He tends to the left. , Pai Zengyou. The face is slightly round and the skin is not thick. The wife is dead and has no descendants. She is still ill and has a long life. Together with his name, he stinks."
This "Epitaph" seems simple and humorous. In fact, it was written after he lost the most intimate and important mother, aunt, wife and mentor in his life. of. One can imagine how badly he was hit, but he hid all the sadness in his heart under the humorous words.
Qi Gong composed many such humorous poems. But his humor is by no means deliberately trying to be clever or clever. His humor contains broad-mindedness, profound philosophy, tragic expression, profound knowledge, extraordinary talent and life experience. That is a simple expression of great wisdom and foolishness.
Qi Gong is indifferent to fame and fortune. Even if he has many honors and titles, what he values ??most is still his job as a teacher. He said, "Those things that I write about and draw are just trivial and not worth mentioning. My real profession and title is just a teacher."
He loves the three-foot podium and cares about students. Once, he was still very satisfied with his lectures, and the students were also excited after listening to them. In order not to delay the following classes, he moved the class to the dormitory, and talked about it thoroughly, citing various sources. The most unforgettable impression he left on his students was his squinting eyes, child-like smile, and beautiful hand writing on the blackboard. His students range from almost the same age as him to more than seventy years younger than him, and they all have a very harmonious relationship with him.
Qi Gong formulated the school motto for Beijing Normal University, "Learning is a teacher, and behavior is a model for the world." This is also a summary of his own teaching career.
Zhao Rengui indeed showed a real and vivid Qi Gong in "The Biography of Qi Gong": he had a strong character, profound knowledge, was indifferent to fame and fortune, and showed his true temperament in his humor. He was a man full of humanity. He is a master of knowledge and a pure teacher.
2020.02.21 Rime