Information picture of Tang Bohu's line carving portrait
Tang Yin (March 6, 1470 - January 7, 1524), also known as Bohu, also known as Ziwei, also known as Liuru Jushi. A native of Wu County, Suzhou Prefecture (now Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province) in the south of Zhili Province, his ancestral home is Jinchang County, Liangzhou. A famous painter, calligrapher and poet in the Ming Dynasty.
What is strange is that the ancestral home of Tang Bohu is Jinchang County, Liangzhou. What is going on? After reading relevant information, I discovered something more interesting. In some of Tang Bohu's calligraphy and painting works, the signature is directly: Jinchang Tang Yin. What's going on?
Where is this Jinchang? According to the information, Jinchang is a subordinate county of Liangzhou and is subordinate to the former Liang regime. Its historical evolution is roughly as follows: In the first year of Yongning in the Western Jin Dynasty (301), Zhang Gui was appointed as the governor of Liangzhou to protect the Qiang Xiaowei, and later established the Qianliang regime. Zhang Gui established Jinchang County in the west of the Hexi Corridor to resettle refugees from various places who fled from Chang'an. Jinchang County governs eight counties, namely Yihe, Yiwu, Ming'an, Shenquan, Guangzhi, Shatou, Kuaiji and Xinxiang. In the fourth year of Jianxing reign of the Qianliang Dynasty (316), Zhang Jun was granted the title of Marquis of Bacheng, and was divided into Dunhuang, Jinchang, Gaochang, Protector of the Western Regions, Wuji Xiaowei, and Yumen Great Protector. The three counties and three battalions were called Shazhou. . In the fifth year of Taiyan in the Northern Wei Dynasty (439), Tuoba Tao was abolished as a garrison. In the last years, Jinchang County was reestablished in Liangzhou, and its jurisdiction was reduced. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, it was changed to Yongxing County. In the fourth year of Wude (621) in the Tang Dynasty, Changle County was changed to Jinchang County, which governs Suoyang City in the southeast of Guazhou County, Jiuquan City, Gansu Province. Belongs to Guazhou. Later abandoned.
It turns out that Jinchang was a county established in the Hexi Corridor during the Qianliang Period, roughly in the area of ??Guazhou County in Gansu today. At that time, it was under the jurisdiction of Liangzhou. It should be noted that during the Jin Dynasty, there were two Jinchang counties. One was Jinchang County, which was established by Emperor Hui of the Western Jin Dynasty and belonged to Xinxing County. The administrative seat was forty miles northwest of present-day Dingxiang County, Shanxi Province. In the seventh year of Emperor Taiping of the Northern Wei Dynasty (446), it was merged into Dingxiang County. One is Jinchang County, which is Jinchang County under the rule of Liangzhou.
So the question is, how did Tang Bohu’s ancestors get to Liangzhou? This question is difficult to answer. I checked a lot of information and everyone has their own opinions.
Generally speaking, we have to start with the origin of the Tang surname. Tang Bohu is said to come from the family of a wine shop owner. When he was a child, Tang Bohu also killed fish and chickens, "drums and knives to cleanse the blood", and he was half a Jianghu person. Therefore, Tang Bohu spent his childhood studying and busy in the market. It should be said that Tang Yin's ancestor was an ordinary person. However, according to Tang Yin's own research, the Tang family had another origin.
Tang Yin’s research is as follows: The origin of their Tang family can be traced back to the Lu State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Therefore, Tang Yin once inscribed on his calligraphy and painting as: Tang Sheng of the State of Lu. During the Warring States Period, Tang Ju, a famous official in the Wei State, and his grandson Tang Li entered the Qin State as an official. The seventeenth generation grandson of Tang Li is Tang Bin, who once served as the captain of the West School of Jinzhen.
Tang Bin (235-294), named Confucian and posthumously named Xiang, was a native of Zouxian County, Lu State (now Zouxian County, Shandong Province). He was a general during the Cao Wei and Western Jin Dynasties. During the Western Jin Dynasty, he was famous for his achievements. He participated in the battle of Jin to destroy Wu with Wang Jun and made outstanding achievements. After the war, he was transferred to the right general and the commander-in-chief of Badong military affairs. He served as a lieutenant in the Yi Military Academy, and was granted the title of Marquis of Shangyong County, with a settlement of 6,000 households. In his later years, he served as former general, captain of Xirong, and governor of Yongzhou. Tang Bin had a son, Tang Xi, who served as Tai Lecheng and married the daughter of Zhang Gui, the governor of Liangzhou. His descendants settled in Jinchang and were granted the title of Duke of Jinchang. Zhang Gui, named Shiyan, was the founding monarch of Qianliang. He was a native of Wushi County, Anding County (now Pingliang City, Gansu Province). He was the successor of Zhang Er, King Zhao Jing of the Western Han Dynasty.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, Tang Jie, an upright political official, was demoted to Jianghuai as an official. From then on, he gradually developed and moved to Suzhou. The direct ancestors of Tang Yin's five generations were ordinary people with no prominent status. Therefore, Tang Yin never forgets the glory of his ancestors.
In his calligraphy and painting works, Tang Bohu inscribed "Tang Sheng of Lu State" or "Tang Yin of Jinchang State" in order to pursue the glory of his ancestors. Tang Bohu's ancestral home is Jinchang, Liangzhou, and his calligraphy and paintings are inscribed with Tang Yin of Jinchang. This is how these sayings come about.
Written by Wang Wenyuan