Also known as the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, it is the collective name for a generation of calligraphers and painters with similar styles who were active in Yangzhou, Jiangnan from the middle of Kangxi to the end of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty. They are called the "Yangzhou School of Painting" in art history. The more generally recognized ones include: Jin Nong, Zheng Xie, Huang Shen, Li Wei, Li Fangying, Wang Shishen, Luo Pin and Gao Xiang.
The eight painters among the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou were famous during their lifetimes. Li Wei, Li Fangying, Gao Fenghan, and Li Mian were summoned by the three emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong respectively to try out paintings or confer appointments. In the eighth year of Qianlong's reign, Hongli saw the "Picture of Cherry Bamboo Shoots" by Zheng Banqiao, and immediately recited the Zhuwen Oval Seal, "the treasure of Qianlong's royal view". In the thirteenth year of Qianlong's reign, during Hongli's southern tour, Zheng Xie was granted the title of "History of Calligraphy and Painting".
It took nearly a hundred years from the rise in the late Kangxi years to the death of Luo Pin, the youngest painter among the "Eight Eccentrics" in the fourth year of Jiaqing. Their paintings are numerous and widely circulated, immeasurable. According to the "Catalog of Existing Paintings of Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics" compiled by modern people, there are more than 8,000 paintings collected by more than 200 museums, art galleries and research institutions at home and abroad.
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Anecdotes of Zheng Xie, one of the Eight Eccentrics of Jiangnan
1. Zheng Xie was influenced by the Confucian thought of "cultivate oneself, harmonize the family, govern the country and bring peace to the world". He requires himself to "first be sensible and be a good person". When serving as an official, he must "contribute to the world and nourish the people." In terms of literary creation, he also advocated that "the principles must be attributed to the sages and the literature must be adapted to daily use."
2. In terms of painting and calligraphy, he deeply felt that "using mere pen and ink for people to enjoy" was a shameful "common thing", and proposed: "Whenever I paint orchids, bamboos, and rocks, It is used to comfort the hardworking people of the world, not to provide comfort to the people of the world."
3. Zheng Xie advocates the "bamboo in the mind" creative method, pointing out that "bamboo in the eye" and "bamboo in the heart." "The connections and differences between the "bamboo in the hand" describe in detail the creative process from observation and feeling, conception and finalization to finalization. The insights are unique and unprecedented.
4. Zheng Xie is also quite accomplished in poetry. Most of his poems describe the lives of poor people and expose the cruelty and greed of the rich and subordinate officials. In his creation, he tried his best to make his works have ethical and moral educational significance.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou (calligraphers and painters in the mid-Qing Dynasty)