During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were many versatile literati. However, it is quite rare to have a person like
who can
be able to
in all aspects such as poetry, drama, calligraphy and painting, and leave a profound impact on the current and future generations. His poetry was revered by Yuan Zhonglang as the best in the Ming Dynasty. His drama was highly praised. As for painting, he was one of the most outstanding figures in my country's history. .
I respected
very much. I once carved a seal and called myself "
My disciple
". Modern
Bai
also admired him deeply. However, Xu Wenchang's life was unfortunate. Although he had a strong ambition for fame and career and a desire to serve the country, he never even passed the entrance examination. In his middle age, he went crazy and killed his wife and was imprisoned for seven years. In his later years, he relied on selling books and even sold books. After living in clothes, he finally died of poverty. The common people loved him very much, and many stories about Xu Wenchang are still circulated in Zhejiang. His former residence in Shaoxing,
, has gone through more than 400 years of vicissitudes of life and is still preserved, maintaining the long-term memory of this literary and artist with a civilian atmosphere.
^^ 1. His talent and reputation were established early and failed despite repeated attempts
Xu Wenchang, named Wei, Wenchang is his surname. Also known as
Shan Ren,
Sheng, Tian Shuiyue, etc.
Born in 16 years (1521) in
(now Shaoxing) a declining
. His father, Xu Jue, worked in Sichuan
. He was originally married to the Tong family and gave birth to two sons, Xu Huai and Xu Lu. He then married the Miao family and never had children. In his later years
p>After giving birth to Xu Wenchang, he died a hundred days after Wenchang was born. After that, Xu Wenchang was raised by Mrs. Miao until he was fourteen years old. After Miao's death, he lived with his eldest brother Xu Huai until he was twenty-one years old.
The Pan family. Although he was born in a bureaucratic family, Xu Wenchang's early life was not pleasant. His biological mother was a woman, so she naturally had no status in the family.
Mrs. Miao raised Xu Wenchang as her own flesh and blood and had high expectations; but perhaps because of this reason, when Wen Chang was ten years old, Mrs. Miao expelled his biological mother from the house. Taking away his mother at a young age was a great stimulus to Xu Wenchang. Although he was able to take his mother back to his home at the age of twenty-nine, he still could not forget this incident until his old age. Because Xu Wenchang is
and his two brothers are twenty or thirty years older than him, Xu Wenchang does not have much status in the family. When he was young, he failed to pass the scholar examination. In his petition to the officials requesting a re-examination, he said: "My studies are ineffective, so I don't believe in my father and brother. But the flesh and bones are fried, the beans are burning, and I look around day and night. Only body and shadow!" He looked very sad and angry. After adulthood, the family fortune declined, and Xu Wenchang
his wife's family, of course, had a less comfortable life. An alert and sensitive person who grows up in such a rough environment will naturally develop a stubborn and extreme personality.
Xu Wenchang was extremely intelligent. He was reading at the age of six, and could compose at the age of nine. When he was in his teens, he imitated "Jie Moo" and wrote "Shi Rui", which caused a sensation in the whole city. The local gentlemen called him a child prodigy and compared him to
and
. When he was in his twenties, he interacted with Chen Haiqiao, Chen Haiqiao, and others in Yuezhong, and was listed as one of the "Ten Sons of Yuezhong".
He once praised him and said: "This is the only one who can close the city gate." It is said that on one occasion
the host deliberately embarrassed Xu Wenchang and pointed to a small thing on the table and asked him to make it. Fu, but secretly ordered the boy servant to hold a scroll of paper that was more than ten feet long. Xu Wenchang stood up and wrote all the words in one breath, which shocked everyone in the house.
Xu Wenchang, who was famous in his hometown for his talents since childhood, has always been somewhat arrogant and full of yearning for fame and career. However, he suffered repeated setbacks on the road to the imperial examination.
That year, he stuttered and passed the exam, and took it again and again.
Until he was forty-one years old, he took the exam eight times and still failed. Lift.
At the age of twenty-six, he lost his wife and moved out of Pan's family to make a living by teaching. At the age of thirty-seven, he accepted the invitation and became a clerk. Xu Wenchang's repeated failures in the imperial examinations were not accidental. He liked
but hated
words when he was a boy. In addition, his personality is revealed and his emotions are public. I am afraid that he really cannot write qualified,
and gloomy and rigid
Come. However, although Xu Wenchang knew that it was useless and had always treated some bureaucrats who came from the imperial examination and had no talent or learning, this was after all the only way out for the old literati in politics. After repeated attempts, it failed to sell, and the future was hopeless, which was a heavy blow to Xu Wenchang. In his later years, he wrote "Self-Made Spectrum", and he also specially recorded the poem "Morning Morning" by Du Fu that he read when he was six years old: "The cock crows
The dawn is cold", revealing his endless emotions about life.
^^2. From the Army to the Prison
Xu Wenchang usually gives people the impression of relying on his talent and arrogance, but he is also a person who cares about social politics and is full of patriotic enthusiasm. During the Jiajing period, the southeastern coast suffered frequent intrusions. Due to lax military preparedness and incompetence of officials, heavy losses were caused to people's lives and property. On the one hand, Xu Wenchang used poetry to sharply criticize this, and on the other hand, he devoted himself to it with enthusiasm. Although he held no position, he put on short clothes several times, took the risk to go to the front line with the army, observed the situation, then recorded the course of the war, analyzed the reasons for success or failure, and proposed strategies to defeat the enemy to relevant officials. Most of these articles are written in a more practical way, which is different from ordinary scholarly discussions.
In the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing reign (1557), Xu Wenchang was recruited by the military affairs officer in the southeast
with his talent
and became the
manager Documents. This was the most proud period of Xu Wenchang's life. At the beginning of his career, he wrote "Enter the White Deer" for
which was appreciated by the emperor. From then on, Hu Zongxian treated him more
and his laissez-faire character. Tao Wangling's "
" records: Xu Wenchang often drinks with his friends.
When there is something urgent, he cannot be found, so he leaves the door open late at night and waits. Someone reported to Hu Zongxian that Xu Xiucai was drunk and shouting loudly, but Hu Zongxian praised him instead. At that time, Hu Zongxian
was so majestic that the civil and military officers did not dare to raise their heads when they saw him. But Xu Wenchang, wearing a shabby black
and a white cloth, went straight to the door and talked about world affairs.
. In
, it is difficult to verify what exactly Xu Wenchang did for the anti-Japanese war. However, based on Xu Wenchang's identity, his curious and talkative personality, and his usual enthusiasm for
, it can be concluded that Xu Wenchang was involved in many important conspiracies. In his surviving articles such as "Book of the Governor's Mansion" and other articles, we can indeed see some pertinent opinions - although the military management techniques he proposed are somewhat harsh.
Of course there are many unsatisfactory things in
. For various reasons, Hu Zongxian had a close relationship with
, which Xu Wenchang hated
so much that his closest friend
had a close relationship with him
p>
and was killed. But Xu Wenchang had to write some words praising Yan Song on behalf of Hu Zongxian. This is really a tragedy for literati.
In the 41st year of Jiajing reign (1562), Yan Song was dismissed from his post and
assumed the post
. Under
's supervision, Hu Zongxian was impeached and arrested in Beijing the following year (later he was only dismissed from office for his meritorious service in pacifying the Japanese), and Xu Wenchang left
. In the forty-fourth year of Jiajing, Hu Zongxian was arrested and imprisoned again and died in prison. Several of his original family members were also implicated. Xu Wenchang was a bit extreme by nature. He failed in the exams for many years and was very unhappy mentally. At this time, he was deeply saddened by Hu Zongxian's death. He was even more worried about being persecuted, so he was completely disappointed in life. To the point of going crazy. He wrote an indignant "
", then pulled out the iron nail from the pilaster and drove it into his ear. He bled profusely and took several months of treatment to recover.
Later, he was hit with vertebrae
but he didn't die either. Such attacks occurred repeatedly, and he committed suicide nine times. In the forty-fifth year of Jiajing's reign, Xu Wenchang had another episode of madness. Suspecting his step-wife Zhang to be unfaithful, he killed her and was imprisoned.
When I was first imprisoned, life was naturally painful. Xu Wen had a long body and was covered with lice. In winter, snow accumulated on his bedside. He was shivering from the cold. Even the food sent by his friends was taken away. Later, many of his friends went around to rescue him, and his treatment improved. Among them, the most powerful aid was first
and then
(he was a famous
in the late Ming Dynasty
). They were all Xu Wenchang's
all came from the top universities and were quite prestigious. With the rescue of these friends, Xu Wenchang spent seven years in prison and was finally released on the occasion of his accession to the throne. This is
Xu Wenchang is fifty-three years old.
^^3. Down and out in his later years
After experiencing so many hardships, Xu Wenchang no longer had any political ambitions, but his concern for state affairs remained as old as ever. . After he was released from prison, he first traveled in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, mountain climbing and waterfront, and made many friends in poetry and painting. In the summer of the fourth year of Wanli (1576), Xu Wenchang's friend Wu Dui, who had already done the job and was responsible for the north, invited him to go north. He went happily. Xu Wenchang stayed in the shogunate for less than a year, but he left behind many poems and essays describing the scenery, folk customs and life in the North. In his prefaces to many officials, he liked to discuss political affairs, especially strategies. At that time, he presided over state affairs and adopted a conciliatory policy towards Mongolia, which Xu Wenchang expressed appreciation for. He was respected by Wu Dui, but due to poor health, he had to return to his hometown via Beijing in the spring of the following year.
At that time, Xu Wenchang accepted
's invitation and went to Beijing, but the relationship between the two soon deteriorated. According to
's account,
was a person with a severe personality and abided by etiquette, while Xu Wenchang was indulgent in nature and did not want to be bound by traditional etiquette.
Bi often used feudal ethics to restrict Xu Wenchang, which made Xu Wenchang very angry. He once said to
: I deserved death for killing people, but it was just a knife in the neck, and now you want to chop me into pieces
! Due to his interactions with old friends and the unequal treatment he received from his interactions with bureaucrats, Xu Wenchang became depressed and angry, and his old illness relapsed, making it easy for him to return to his hometown after living in Beijing for three years. After that, Xu Wenchang never left again
In his later years when he lived in the countryside, Xu Wenchang became more and more disgusted with the rich and the people of etiquette, and most of the people he made friends with were his past friends and those who followed him
. It is said that when someone came to visit, Xu Wenchang didn't want to see him, so he pushed the firewood door and shouted: "
Not here!" day. But when I had a little more money, I refused to do it again. On the other hand, a group of friends with younger generations often obtained his masterpieces by cheating or robbing them. Xu Wenchang seemed to be particularly fond of crabs, and many recorded how his friends offered him live crabs in exchange for painting crabs. In the last few years, Xu Wenchang suffered from various diseases. He probably could not paint often, and his life became even poorer. The "Collected Works of Xu Wenchang" includes poems such as "Selling Minks", "Selling Chimes", "Selling Paintings" and "Selling Books", which show the desolate old age of this great writer and artist. In 1593, Xu Wenchang died at the age of seventy-three.
^^4. Multifaceted artistic achievements
Xu Wenchang’s literary and artistic creations cover a wide range of fields, but their most common characteristics can be pointed out, which are: artistically unique Unlike others, they like to be original, have a strong personality, have a bold and unrestrained style, and often show their interest in
.
In the poetry world of the Ming Dynasty, due to
’s promotion, a
trend emerged. Although they also have their own incredible achievements, this kind of culture is obviously detrimental to the development of the art of poetry. Xu Wenchang was deeply dissatisfied with this and made sharp criticism.
He said: If a bird imitates human speech, its nature is still that of a bird. If you write poetry and imitate your predecessors, no matter how imitative you are, it will just be a bird imitating human speech, and it will have no real value. His own poetry creation focuses on expressing personal actual emotions about social life, with a slightly modern style. He learned about the prosperous Tang Dynasty, mixed with the Southern Dynasties, and went in and out of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, but in the end he never lost himself. This tendency was inherited by those who later advocated expression, and was of great significance in changing the style of poetry in the late Ming Dynasty.
The commander-in-chief Yuan Zhonglang made a wonderful comment on Xu Wenchang's poems: "Wen Chang was not interested in having a secretary, so he turned to
quhe,
landscapes... ...The mountains that he saw were rising up to the sea, the sand was rising, the clouds were moving, the wind was blowing, the trees were crumbling, there were many deep valleys, and all the people were astonishing and shocking, and all of them were reflected in the poem. There is an indelible atmosphere, the sadness of a hero who has lost his way and has no way to support himself, so it is a poem, like anger, like laughter, like the sound of water in the gorge, like seeds being unearthed, like a widow crying at night, which makes people feel cold. "Relaxing your mind can lead you thousands of miles away; sometimes it is quiet and dark, and ghosts are whispering in anger." Among Xu Wen's long proses, "
" is the most outstanding. In addition, many of them
are also very distinctive, witty, humorous and interesting.
Yuanqi
is first-class, but in general, their achievements are not as good as poetry.
Xu Wenchang's drama creations include
the collection "
", including "History of Wild Drums", "Dream of Green Country", "Female Mulan", "
》Four independent plays. "History of Kuanggu" was written in response to Yan Song's murder of Shen Lian, showing his arrogant spirit of resistance. The latter two plays are both stories about achievements and achievements, which reflect Xu Wenchang's views on women and have a certain anti-feudal significance. These works have broken
the fixed format and opened up the door to the diversification of dramatic forms. In terms of drama theory, he advocated "true character", that is, the language of drama should conform to the identity of the characters, and should use colloquial language and colloquialisms to achieve the authenticity of the objects, while opposing elegant parallelism and excessive modification. These views are very
very valid. In addition, he also wrote "Nanci Narrative", which is my country's first theory on
and is of great significance in the history of drama.
Xu Wenchang once said: "My books are first, my poems are second, my essays are third, and my paintings are fourth." This is probably a common practice among literati
that is, to put their most valued art Put it in the last position to elevate the others. In fact, he is my country's greatest
, and his influence extends to
,
,
until Wu Lu Shuo,
, has a high status in
. He is best at flower painting, with indulgent brushwork and dripping ink, strong and charming style, poetic lyricism and rhythm, which is highly valued by people. His calligraphy is better than
. Although Xu Wenchang ranks himself first, his achievements seem to be inferior to painting.
In addition,
"Song Dai Xiao" and the novel "Yun He Qizong" (i.e. "
") are also said to be written by Xu Wenchang. These are two excellent works, but they seem to be very problematic, so they will not be reviewed here.
——————————
, initial character
, changed character to text length, number
, Qingteng etc., was born in a small bureaucratic family in Zhejiang (now Shaoxing City) in the 16th year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty (AD
). He came from Shui
and when he was more than ten years old, he wrote an article "Explanation of Destruction" imitating "Jie Moo". A little longer, he studied under Ji Ben, a fellow scholar in his hometown. Ji Ben is a student of the founder of Xinxue
. Therefore, Yangming's philosophy of mind had a great influence on Xu Wei's life through Ji Ben's teaching. The main point of Yangming's theory of mind is that "the heart is reason, and there is no reason outside the heart." This is an acknowledgment of
and intuition. It is related to Buddhist thinking and transcendental thinking, and is also related to "
". The emergence of Yangming's theory of mind was in itself a rebellion and challenge to the then dominant Neo-Confucianism.
During this period, there was a tendency in philosophy, literature, and
to pursue individuality and express
directly. Xu Wei naturally got involved in this trend.
Since becoming a scholar
, although he has repeatedly failed in the provincial examinations, he has made many good teachers and friends. Among these teachers and friends are current officials, retired villagers, hermits in the mountains and forests, and young underachievers. They talk about each other's skills and interact with each other
. Later, he was named together with Xiao Mian,
,
, Zhu Gongjie, Shen Lian, Qian Bian,
,
, Lu Guangsheng, etc. "The Ten Sons of Yue".
The opera, painting, and
the calligraphy all had a certain influence on the 7d title.
In addition, he also made friends
with famous literati in the area
. Such as
,
, Shen Shi, Liu Shiru,
, etc. Xu said that in his interactions with these people, "Pao" became a genius who was good at poetry, literature, calligraphy, painting, opera and even military affairs.
The drama "
" written by Xu Wei when he was in his thirties was praised by the drama masters of his generation
.
Xu Wei was rich in military talent, and his ability to carry 7d was appreciated by Hu Zongxian, who was engaged in Japanese warfare at that time.
He was hired into Hu Zongxian's mansion at the age of thirty-seven.
He also designed for Hu Zongxian to trap the bandit chief
and scare the 7d sea. Once, Hu Zongxian captured a white deer and asked Xu Wei to write "Into the White Deer Biao" and present it to the court.
Historical scholar Dong Fen and others greatly appreciated Wei's article, and Xu Wei was more highly valued by Hu Zongxian. .
Hu Zongxian was imprisoned for the second time because of Yan Hao's traitor party's loss of power, and finally died in prison. Xu Wei was also afraid of being implicated by Hu, so he "incited a huge awl to make the ear pierce, several inches deep, and shattered his vertebrae, but he did not die." ("History of the Ming Dynasty ¨ Wenyuan Biography") committed suicide as many as nine times. At this time, his inner anger and pain could only be vented through intense self-abuse, and he really went crazy. Later, he accidentally killed his wife and was imprisoned for it. While in prison, he regained some mental composure, but he was not cured. This crazy genius was saved from death by his fellow villagers
who tried their best to save him. He was fifty-three years old when he was released from prison.
After being released from prison, Xu Wei once traveled to Jinling, Xuanliao, Beijing and other places. From the time he was released from prison until his death at the age of seventy-three, he spent the entire twenty years in poverty, desolation and loneliness, sometimes lucidly and sometimes abnormally. According to his own notes, he said: "There are many signs of abnormality, and the spirit is inverted until old age." The fact that he can record this by himself shows that although he often
but sometimes Is very sober.
Xu Wei's paintings not only have a certain degree of inheritance from teachers, but also break through the previous rules to express his own nature. His
influenced by Liang Guangmao's reduction
of the Song Dynasty, generalization
, vivid shapes; his landscape paintings were influenced by
,
etc.'s influence;
a further step forward on the basis of
,
and others'
. In the history of painting, he is called "
" and "Bai Yang" together with
, and he is regarded as the founder of the big
school.
Xu Wei pays special attention to the "rhythm" and "vividness" of his paintings. This is in line with
the first method in the method - vivid charm. He once mentioned in a poem: "If you don't seek the appearance and the rhyme of life, my five fingers will fall into the root." He also pointed out in "Books
Yuanming Volume is Ge Gongdan": "Painting disease, not The disease lies in the lightness or weight of the ink, and the vividness or inertness of the ink. " He believes that if a painter wants to express his own specific temperament, chest, and temperament, he must choose the corresponding subject matter to suit his temperament and temperament. Breast level, emotion. When he inscribed an ink painting of peony, he mentioned: "Peony is the
, the main
. Therefore, in the past, people were mostly good at drawing and contrasting. Today,
For this reason, although there is a business, it is not the true appearance of this flower. It is similar in nature to plum and bamboo, and it is very similar.
"Judging from his opinions, he is indeed quite sober at times. It is his sober comments that make him show more superhuman courage in his crazy works.
Among Xu Wei's paintings, the ones that best express his
ignorance of the past and present and his free will are ink flowers
and Beijing
each. There is a volume of "Ink Paintings of Flowers" by Xu Wei. It is said that there are three volumes in the United States. The most exquisite one is the long volume of "Miscellaneous Flowers" collected by Nanbo. This volume contains peonies, pomegranates, lotus, and sycamores. , chrysanthemum, pumpkin,
, crape myrtle, grape,
, plum blossom, narcissus and bamboo, with dripping and arbitrary ink, dry and wet shades,
This volume has been published and printed many times.
There are nine types of paintings in the collection of "Flowers with Ink Pen", among which "Plum Blossoms and Stones" are often titled. A poem that has been quoted by many people: "Never saw
it has its own God. If you don’t believe it, just look at the millions of trees. The east wind blows and they become spring. ” not only reveals his unwillingness
and bold creative spirit, but also reveals his comfort mood of being able to put pen to paper.
Xu Wei often wrote in his later years
Mentioning the word "spring", such as "the ink dyes the delicate figure lightly and evenly, and the painting also expresses the appreciation of youth." "("Inscription on Peony") "In fifty-eight years of poverty and humbleness, never did Luoyang spring. "("Inscription on Peony") "How much power the spring breeze can dissipate, it will take the children to the sky. "Then I can stay in Chunma more and watch the children when they are disconnected." "("
"), etc. There are also some words such as "rouge", "
", "fangzi". Is this related to Xu Wei's widowhood in his later years? The suppressed sexual subconsciousness is vented through artistic creation.
Xu Wei’s anger, depression, loneliness, and desolate inner feelings are shown in the painting "
". The poem on the work reflects his inner feelings: "Half a lifetime
has become a man, independent
xiao
. The pearls under the pen are nowhere to be sold, so they are thrown into the wild vines. ”
After Xu Wei’s death, his works were increasingly appreciated by some knowledgeable people.
、
、
He was deeply influenced by it and was outstanding at the time.
To this day, Tuo Dwei's works continue to shine with brilliance.
In the Qing Dynasty
I exchanged five hundred gold for
(Xu Wei) a pomegranate, and offered to become a "subordinate of the Ivy League"
.
Contemporary painter
Professed to be "I wish I had lived three hundred years ago" as Qingteng "
Paper organizer"