In the world of calligraphy and painting, Liu Wennong of Liangshan, Liu Zhi of Rencheng, Huang Qingpei of Yuncheng, and Fu Xingbo of Yanzhou are also known as the Four Bright Masters of Southern Shandong.
The Liu family has a single biography, but Liu Zhi had no intention of his son inheriting his father's business and engaging in business, but he "loved painting to his bones" since he was a child and loved calligraphy. Mr. Liu Zhi was enlightened by local celebrities such as Sun Puzhou and Liu Zhenqing. Sun, who lived in Taiwan in his later years, said that Liu's "two paintings, seen in the film, are orthodox and regular, with solid brushwork and solid proportions." Liu Zhi married He Guohua's daughter at the age of 16. He had a close relationship with Kang Youwei, and there were many Kang characters. From then on, Liu Zhi admired the copying and moved into the maintenance hall.
In 1937, during the Anti-Japanese War and national salvation, Zhao Wangyun, the leader of the "Chang'an Painting School" came to Jining. Liu Zhenqing brought Liu Zhi to visit, and Zhao presented Liu with two sketch albums. In the same year, Liu went to Jinan to attend high school, studied painting with Guan Songping, and viewed masterpieces at the Jinan Traditional Chinese Painting Society. After Guan Songping's death, he resumed painting studies with Guan Yousheng. In 1951, Liu Zhi became a disciple of Chen Shaomei and stayed with the master day and night. Under the guidance of masters and influenced by famous artists, Liu Zhi took to the water like a fish in water and gradually became better. He made extraordinary achievements in calligraphy, painting, appraisal and other aspects. He was already famous in Jining in his thirties.
After the age of seventy, I tried painting flowers and birds, which was very interesting. Liu Zhisu is good at ink painting and rarely uses heavy colors. However, those who know his traditional Chinese paintings say that his heavy colors have the effect of oil paintings. The landscape sketch I got was recorded in a poem by Liu Yuxi about bamboo branches in Shitang: "Qutang is noisy with twelve beaches. People say that the road has been difficult since ancient times. I often hate that people's hearts are not as good as water, and ordinary plains make waves." People say that Liu Zhi once used dead trees to make waves. The roots knocked out the fiber to write the work. Looking at this simple and vigorous painting, the pen and ink are also dripping. It may be the work of the root pen. I can't help but marvel. Strange but not strange, it is due to the comprehensive cultivation of the art of calligraphy and painting.
It is said that there was a paulownia tree in the courtyard of the Liu family, and he often chatted with his disciples and friends under the tree, so he chose the name of his study "Tongyin Bookstore", which is a homonym for "". Liu Zhi's works are given to selected people. It is easy to get paintings with "tongyin", even if you don't ask for them, it is difficult to ask for them if you don't know them. Liu Zhi also does not collect celebrities' calligraphy and paintings, and likes to give them away casually. The rest of Liu's life was rough and low-key. In his later years, he lived in seclusion and devoted himself to Buddhism. His Dharma title was "Miao Zhizhi", and he was in charge of the "Sanduo Bookstore". He intended to form more good relationships, listen to the sound of Dharma more, and practice the concept of impurity.