In ancient Qingdao, all kinds of literary talents emerged one after another. Among the famous painters in China, Cui Zizhong, a great painter in Pingdu of Ming Dynasty, is one of the best. Cui Zizhong was a leading figure in northern painting circles in the late Ming Dynasty. He is an honest, frank and somewhat withdrawn person. Many high-ranking officials, Hou Lu, can't get one of his paintings even if they spend a lot of money, so there is a saying that "a thousand dollars can't buy Cui Sheng's paintings".
"Nan Cui" is quite famous in the painting world.
Cui Zizhong (about 1595 ~ 1644), also known as Cui Dan, was born in Pingdu Prefecture in Ming Dynasty. Cui is a famous surname of Pingdu in Ming Dynasty. Cui Zizhong was admitted to a scholar when he was young. However, due to his "writing style", his writing style can't meet the requirements of the eight-part essay test paper, so although he participated in many provincial examinations, he failed to get into a candidate. Therefore, Cui Zizhong, who has great personality, vowed never to take part in the stereotyped imperial examination again. Tired of the imperial examination, Cui Zizhong regards poetry and painting as the main content of his daily life. Although his family is poor, he has a good time. He has lived in Beijing for many years and is an accomplished canvas painter.
Cui Zizhong has an extraordinary talent in painting, diligent in studying and sketching, and brave in innovative practice. By the time he was middle-aged, he had become famous in painting. According to documents, Cui Zizhong, a northern cloth painter, is as famous as Chen Hongshou (Chen Laolian), a great southern painter, and is known as "Southern Cui" by the world.
Cui Zizhong's painting road is very wide, and he can draw figures, flowers, birds and animals, but he is best at painting ladies, sometimes mythical figures and Buddha statues. Zhou Lianggong, a famous critic of calligraphy and painting appreciation in the early Qing Dynasty, commented on Cui Zizhong's paintings. "Painting is a stunt and beneficial to people." At that time, many dignitaries appreciated his paintings, but it was hard to get them. Qian, a famous scholar in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, commented on Cui Zizhong's paintings: Cui Zizhong pursued and studied the previous generation of super masters of painting, such as Gu Kaizhi in the Jin Dynasty, Yan in the Tang Dynasty, Wu Daozi in the Northern Song Dynasty, Fan Kuan, etc., and never interacted with the common people.
In the early Qing Dynasty, Zhou Lianggong once described Cui Zizhong's character in a realistic style in the book Shadow of a Tree House: Cui Zizhong was aloof and willing to be poor. He lives in a humble little yard in a remote place in the southern suburbs of Beijing. Although it is a thatched door, it is clean and tidy. Cui Zizhong is dressed in sandals with high tops and likes to spend a lot of time on fish farming. His wife is in rags and likes to do housework; His two daughters can also read aloud. Whenever the mood comes, Cui Zizhong shows off his paper, and his wife and daughter can also draw a few strokes. A family of four discussed painting together, which was very enjoyable.
It's hard to buy Cui Sheng's paintings for 1000 yuan.
Cui Zizhong, who is arrogant and arrogant, despises powerful people. These rich and powerful people often go to great lengths to get Cui Zizhong's paintings. Sometimes happy, Cui Zizhong would rather give his proud works to a few close friends than to a vulgar generation who spent a lot of money on paintings. According to the literature, when meeting these vulgar people, Cui Zizhong often "turns around and doesn't care." So there was a saying among senior officials at that time: "It is difficult to buy Cui Sheng's paintings for a thousand dollars."
According to documents, the famous Shi Kefa managed to get a painting by Cui Zizhong. When he was happy, he ordered his men to give a famous horse as a reward. However, the maverick Cui Zizhong sold this famous horse. "Call friends to drink, and gold will be exhausted in one day."
A friend of Cui Zizhong was admitted to the Imperial Examination during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, and later became an official in Beijing. He asked Cui Zizhong for paintings many times, but Cui Zizhong didn't give them to him. One day, Beijing officials invited Cui Zizhong to his mansion on the pretext of something. After closing the door, he smiled and said to Cui Zizhong, don't blame the old classmates for being rude today. I won't let you go home if you don't draw a picture for me. However, Cui Zizhong refused to start painting for him. The Beijing official classmate also said that if I don't let you go home for ten and a half days, your fish and flowers will die. If you want to understand, you'd better draw a picture for me quickly.
Cui Zizhong was forced to draw a picture for the Beijing official. Who knows, Cui Zizhong didn't go home immediately after going out from this Beijing official's house, but went to a neighbor's house and asked the neighbor's children to go to that Beijing official's house to get the paintings. Cui Zizhong teaches the children in the neighborhood because the painting is "a little simple and needs to be polished several times." Beijing officials didn't know this was a plan, so they gave the painting to the children in their neighbors and took it back by themselves. Who knows, Cui Zizhong tore up the painting and left the neighbor's house with a smile.
Trapped at home and starved to death.
Tan Qian's book Journey to the North in the Qing Dynasty recorded an anecdote: Wu Meicun, a famous literary figure in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, once got a picture of Cui Zizhong's "Washing Elephants". Wu was deeply shocked by the grand scenes and vivid characters in this precious scroll, which showed the grand occasion of elephant bathing in the spring of Ming Dynasty. So excited Wu Meicun wrote a long poem on this long scroll. There is a chanting full of reverence in the poem: "Cui Sheng is dressed in cloth and holding a pen and paper. He looks up and sees Tianjie taming elephants." According to the poem, at the risk of being arrested by Jin Wu, Cui Zizhong personally observed the grand occasion of "barefoot savages tying double belts and six-street maids filling their stomachs" at that time, and after repeated ideas, he created this "image washing map". It's a pity that Cui Zizhong's masterpiece is gone.
Wu Meicun lamented what happened to Cui Zizhong in his long poem With Pictures: "Alas! Cui Sheng starved to death in Chang 'an, leaving weeds and burying broken bones. I have worked hard all my life, and this volume is still worth cherishing. "
According to the book Yin Shu Wu Shuying, Cui Zizhong died when Li Zicheng led the rebels into Beijing in the late Ming Dynasty. Some withdrawn Cui Zizhong and his wife were trapped at home and starved to death.
For various reasons, there are not many paintings handed down by Cui Zizhong. Only a few pictures have been handed down from generation to generation, such as Jade Girl in the Cloud, Changbai Fairy Tales, Garden Plants and Insects, and Biography of Blessed Life. These paintings handed down from ancient times by Cui Zizhong are now mostly collected by museums and belong to national treasures.