I have never heard of any book about the Four Great Talents, but there is one about the Four Great Talents in Jiangnan. Maybe you are mistaken. . .
The Four Great Talents in the South of the Yangtze River——Tang Bohu, Wen Zhengming, Zhu Yunming, and Xu Zhenqing
●Tang Bohu in real history
Tang Yin (1470-1523), courtesy name Bohu, also known as Ziwei, also known as Liuru Jushi, Taohua Temple Master, Tang Sheng of Lu State, Fleeing Zen Immortal Official, etc., is known as "the most romantic talented man in the south of the Yangtze River" and is a native of Suzhou. A famous calligrapher, painter and writer in the Ming Dynasty. Painting is as famous as Shen Shitian, Wen Zhengming and Qiu Ying, and is known as the "Four Ming Painters" in history. Together with Wen Zhengming, Zhu Yunming, and Xu Zhenqing, he is known as the "Four Great Talents in the South of the Yangtze River" (also known as the Four Talents of the Wu Clan), and is the first of the Four Great Talents in the South of the Yangtze River.
Tang Yin has been doing business in Suzhou for generations since his great-grandfather, and his parents opened a wine shop in Gaoqiao. Tang Yin was talented and intelligent since he was a child. He was familiar with the "Four Books and Five Classics" and read "Historical Records", "Selected Works of Zhaoming" and other historical books. He loved painting. When he was a little older, he became a student of the famous painter Zhou Chen, and he and Wen Zhengming also studied under Shen Zhou. At the age of 16, he took part in the Children's Student Examination. After passing the county examination, prefecture examination, and college examination, he ranked first in high school. In the 11th year of Hongzhi's reign in the Ming Dynasty (1498), he went to Nanjing for the provincial examination and won the first place in the Xie Yuan examination. The following year, Tang Yin went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. He was demoted to Zhejiang as an official because he was suspected of Cheng Minzheng's bribery case. Tang Yin was too shameful to take up an official position. After returning home, he indulged in drinking to drown his sorrows, showing his arrogance and unruliness.
Tang Yin began his "thousand-mile journey" at the age of 31, traveling to seven provinces: Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Min, and Jiangxi. Under poverty, he made a living by selling paintings. Tang Yin is good at painting landscapes and meticulous figures, especially ladies, with elegant, meticulous, free and elegant brushwork. "Tang Painting" was adopted by later generations of painters. His handed down works include "Returning to Thoughts on a Mule", "Autumn Wind Fan Fan", "Li Ruirui", "A Lifelong Marriage", "Mountain Road Pine Sound", etc. Poems and prose include "The Complete Works of Liu Ru Ju Shang".
In the fourth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty (1509), Tang Yin built Taohuawu on the site of an abandoned garden in Zhangzhuang, a Song Dynasty in the north of Suzhou City. (Also known as Tangjiayuan, the site is in today's Taohuawu Street). He mainly lived in Taohuawu for the second half of his life, and the main artistic works in his life were also produced here.
In his later years, Tang Yin felt spiritually empty. He "returned to the Buddha's vehicle and called himself Liuru". His thoughts tended towards liberation and decadence, and he renamed his house a nunnery. In the second year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1523), Tang Yin died at the age of 54. Tang Yin's Tomb is located in Huqiu District. After renovation, it was opened to the public on October 22, 1986.
Because of her chic and elegant style, her uninhibited style, and the seal of "The Most Talented Talent in the South of the Yangtze River", her paintings of ladies reached the pinnacle. Therefore, she was misunderstood by later generations, and many romantic legends were passed down, such as "Tang Bohu's Three Points of Autumn Fragrance" and so on. In fact, he had a rough life, suffering from poverty and misery. It can be said that he is a typical example of ancient Chinese intellectuals who failed to appreciate their talents and were unable to serve the country.
●The funny and free-spirited Zhu Zhishan
Zhu Yunming (1460-1526) was a calligrapher in the Ming Dynasty, with the courtesy name Xizhe and Haozhishan. Because he had an extra finger on his right hand, he also named himself Haozhi. Refers to life. A native of Changzhou (Suzhou), Jiangsu Province, he was born into a family of Kui Ru who had been an official for seven generations. Together with Tang Bohu, Wen Zhengming, and Xu Zhenqing, he is known as the "Four Talents of the South of the Yangtze River" (also known as the Four Talents of the Wu Clan).
He was talented and studious since he was a child. He could write Chinese characters one foot square when he was 5 years old, and he could write poems when he was 9 years old. He was called a "child prodigy". His writings are magnificent and his intelligence is extraordinary. He became a scholar at the age of 7 and passed the imperial examination at the age of 32. He once served as the magistrate of Xingning County and the general magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture. Due to his dissolute nature and dissatisfaction with the corruption in the officialdom, he resigned and returned to Suzhou to make friends. Invite guests to drink heavily and make wine to relieve their sorrows.
Zhu Zhishan gathered the strengths of various calligraphers and led a generation of calligraphers. He was one of the "three masters of calligraphy in the mid-Ming Dynasty" of the Wu School. The gods of calligraphy, Yu Shinan of the Tang Dynasty and Zhao Meng of the Yuan Dynasty, combined the running script of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi of the Jin Dynasty, and the cursive script of Tang Huaisu. They integrated and developed into their own unique cursive script, which was known as "the best in the Ming Dynasty" and spread. There is a saying that "Tang Bohu's paintings are Zhu Zhishan's calligraphy". Zhu Zhishan wrote the "Six Style Script Poems", "Cursive Script Poems of Du Fu", "Nineteen Ancient Poems", "Cursive Script Poems" and "Cursive Script Poems". "Hanjuan" and other fine works of ink that have been passed down from generation to generation. Although Zhu Yunming has no famous paintings, he can also draw, but he rarely writes and has even fewer works that have been handed down from generation to generation.
Zhu Zhishan was fun-loving and free-spirited, talented and loved to travel. Playing in the water without being too formal.
Since Zhu Yunming has countless interesting anecdotes, which are very ready-made creative materials, he often appears as a resourceful, eloquent, and helpful image in many operas such as "Three Smiles" and "Wang Laohu Robbery". in the works.
Zhu Zhishan also has "Jianghai Annihilation Canal", "News", "Nine Dynasties Wilderness", "Wearings in Front of Zhishan", "Floating Objects", "Old Monster Record", "Su Cai Xiao" "Compilation", "Huaixingtang Collection" and other books have been handed down to the world, and the "Xingning County Chronicle" was compiled.
He died in the fifth year of Jiajing (1526) at the age of 67. After Zhu Zhishan's death, he was buried in the Zhu family's ancestral grave in Hengshan, a suburb of Suzhou. However, the tomb has been leveled due to the vicissitudes of life.
●Wen Zhengming, a master of both calligraphy and painting
Wen Zhengming (1470-1559), was first named Bi, with the courtesy name Zhengming, later changed to Zhengzhong, also known as Tingyun, and also nicknamed Hengshan The layman is known as Wen Hengshan. A native of Changzhou (now Suzhou). One of the founders of "Wumen School of Painting". Together with Tang Bohu, Zhu Zhishan, and Xu Zhenqing, he is known as the "Four Talents of the South of the Yangtze River" (also known as the Four Talents of the Wu Clan). Together with Shen Zhou, Tang Bohu, and Qiu Ying, they are collectively known as the "Four Ming Families". At the age of 54, he passed the imperial examination with the title of Sui Gong and was awarded the title of "Wen Dai Zhao" by the Hanlin Academy, so he was called Wen Dai Zhao.
Wen Zhengming came from a scholarly family, and his grandfather and father were both writers. But Wen Zhengming was not smart when he was young. A little older, he studied literature from Wu Kuan, calligraphy from Li Yingzhen, and painting from Shen Zhou, and finally became a "late bloomer".
Wen Zhengming is good at landscapes, flowers and figures. His painting style was meticulous in his early years, more extensive in his middle age, and gradually became more refined in his later years. The best paintings passed down from generation to generation include "Thousands of Rocks Competing with Beauty", "Thousands of Gorges Competing with Streams", "Picture of Mrs. Xiangjun", "Shihu Thatched Cottage", "Shihu Poetry and Painting", "Poetry of Hengtang", "Tiger Hill Picture", "Travel to Tianping", "Lingyan Mountain", "Dongting West Mountain", "Humble Administrator's Garden", etc.
Wen Zhengming is also good at cursive script, especially small regular script, and can do everything in seal script, official script, regular script and cursive script. The four-body, thousand-character prose he wrote became a model for later generations to copy. Together with Zhu Yunming and Wang Chong, he is known as the "Three Masters" of calligraphy in the Ming Dynasty. His handed down books include "The Drunkard's Story", "The Preface to the King's Pavilion", "Chibi Fu", etc.
Wen Zhengming died in 1559. He was the oldest among the "Four Talents of Wu Clan". His tomb is in Wenling Village, Lu Tomb, Wu County. It is now a key cultural relic protection unit in Jiangsu Province.
●The article contains jade from the Jiangzuo family, trees and flowers in Yangzhou under the misty moon——Brief introduction of Xu Zhenqing
Xu Zhenqing (1479-1511), also named Changgu and Changguo. He was born in Meili Town, Changshu, and later moved to Wu County (now Suzhou). Writer of Ming Dynasty. Together with Tang Bohu, Zhu Zhishan and Wen Zhengming, they are known as the "Four Talents of Jiangnan" (also known as the Four Talents of Wu Clan). He is famous for his quatrain "The articles on Jiangzuo's family are full of jade, and the moonlight is on the trees and flowers in Yangzhou".
Xu Zhenqing was intelligent by nature and was good at arts and science. At the age of 16, he wrote "Xin Qian Ji" and became famous in Wuzhong. But in his early years, he failed in many attempts. After reading "Li Sao", he was inspired by it and wrote "The Collection of Tan Tan". "Jiang Xingji" was written in the 14th year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty (1501). In the 16th year of Hongzhi's reign in the Ming Dynasty (1503), he and Wen Zhengming jointly compiled "New Records of Taihu". In the 18th year of Hongzhi's reign in the Ming Dynasty (1505), he heard that the Tatars had invaded and that the officers and soldiers were unable to resist and were defeated, so he wrote a long poem "A Journey to Yutai". In the middle of the same year, he was buried and later awarded the title of Deputy Zuosi of Dali Temple. In the fifth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty (1510), he was demoted to doctor of the Imperial College.
Xu Zhenqing occupies a special position in the poetry world. He has written so many poems that he is known as a "literary hero". Later, he became close friends with Ming Dynasty writers Li Mengyang and He Jingming. He regretted abandoning his few works and advocated restoration. Together with Li Mengyang, He Jingming, Bian Gong, Kang Hai, Wang Jiusi and Wang Tingxiang, they are called the "First Seven Sons". His "Talking about Art" only discusses the Han and Wei dynasties, and dismisses it after the Six Dynasties, focusing on the theory of restoration. The style of his poems is elegant, spanning the Han and Tang dynasties. Although he is deliberately retro, he still retains the romantic feeling of the Wu Dynasty.
In his later period, Xu Zhenqing believed in Taoism and studied health preservation. He died in the capital in the sixth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty (1511) at the age of 33. His tomb is at the northern end of Yujiabang at the Wandian Bridge at the western foot of Huqiu Mountain. Xu Huiqing's other works include "Di Gong Ji", "Jian Sheng Ye Wen", "Yi Lin", etc.
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