Zheng Banqiao was awarded Jinshi in his middle age and served as county magistrate. When encountering a famine, Zheng Banqiao always reported the truth and appealed for relief to the people. He also ordered the wealthy households to take turns giving up porridge to feed the hungry people. He also took the lead in donating his salary. He carved a seal and made it clear: "I wish I could fill the world's hunger debt." Because he offended his superiors by helping the disaster-stricken poor to complain and provide relief, he simply resigned and said, "If you don't make decisions for the people as an official, it's better to go home and sell sweet potatoes." He went to sea and returned to Yangzhou to make a living selling paintings.
Advertising Monster
In the hall where he sells paintings, he wrote a big book called "Brush List", which can also be said to be a commercial advertisement for his paintings: "Large Six Two, four taels for medium ones, two taels for small ones, one tael for writing slips and couplets, five coins for fans and buckets. It is always better to give gifts or food to the public, and may not be as good to the disciples as to give them in cash. Then the heart will be filled with joy, and both calligraphy and painting will be good; gifts are entangled, and credit is especially bad. I am old and tired, and I cannot accompany you to make five beneficial remarks." At the end of the notice, there is a poem: "It is more money to paint bamboo than to sell it. The paper is six feet high and costs 3,000 yuan. Let Qu talk about the old talk, just as the autumn wind passes by his ears."
This "advertisement" with more than 100 words is full of money. People who don't know think that Zheng Banqiao is a profit-seeking person. Who knows his reasons? He wrote a positive article but a negative one. This advertisement is used to satirize two types of people: one is a fake celebrity who does not talk about money, but wants to be paid generously and asks for heavy gifts; the other is to fight against the autumn wind and take advantage of the power in his hands. Come and plunder. Zheng Banqiao has seen through the world, dared to tell the truth, broke old customs and etiquette, and disclosed his thoughts, leaving those hypocrites speechless and dumbfounded.
Strange hobbies
It is said that there was a big salt merchant named Zeng Xiaoquan in Yangzhou City. This man pretended to be gentle and wanted to buy Banqiao's calligraphy and paintings, but he was repeatedly rejected. So, he went around and got a few authentic paintings of Banqiao from others, but unfortunately they were not inscribed. It felt awkward to hang such paintings without inscriptions.
Someone gave him an idea. It turns out that Zheng Banqiao has a hobby - he likes to eat dog meat. One day, Zheng Banqiao was walking into a bamboo forest, and the melodious sound of the piano came from far away. He followed the sound to a pavilion and saw an old man playing the piano in the elegant and quiet pavilion, surrounded by cigarettes. Seeing Zheng Banqiao coming, the old man stood up and gave up his seat. He exchanged pleasantries and spoke very speculatively. While we were having an interesting conversation, the smell of dog meat came from next door.
The old man asked: "May I ask, sir, if you also eat dog meat?" Zheng Banqiao said: "I do like it." The old man greeted him warmly, so Zheng Banqiao ate his dog meat without any courtesy. After eating, he saw that the white walls on all sides were empty, so he asked: "Old man, why don't you hang some calligraphy and paintings indoors?" The old man sighed: "I don't want to hang vulgar paintings. Although Banqiao calligraphy and painting are good, they are difficult to buy, so I let him It's empty." Zheng Banqiao said, "I, Zheng Banqiao, have a heavy expectation, but I don't dare." The old man liked it even more and displayed the four treasures of the study that he had prepared.
Zheng Banqiao was happy to write. After finishing the painting, he asked the old man: "May I ask my father-in-law his name?" The old man said: "Zeng Xiaoquan". Zheng Banqiao was startled and said, "Why, you have the same name as a great salt merchant?" The old man said, "What great salt merchant? When my father-in-law chose the name, the salt merchant was probably not even born yet! The pure will be pure by itself, and the turbid will be turbid. It's none of the salt merchant's business." Banqiao thought about it and it made sense. There were many people with the same name in the world. Besides, he had eaten other people's dog meat, so he had no choice but to accept Zeng Xiaoquan's payment and leave.
Not long after, the salt merchant Zeng Xiaoquan held a banquet for guests, and a Banqiao calligraphy and painting with the above inscription was hung in the middle hall. After the news spread, Banqiao didn't believe it and squeezed into the crowd to see it. It didn't matter if he didn't see it. He was dumbfounded when he saw it, wasn't he? It's my own handiwork. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that he had painted it after eating dog meat in the bamboo forest, so he knew he had fallen into the trap. When I think about it again, my face turns red. Who told you that you fell into someone else's dog meat trick? Zheng Banqiao suffered the disadvantage of being dumb and had no choice but to tacitly accept the matter. This is what we often say: Eat someone else's mouth softly, and take someone else's hand softly.
Title: Poetry: Weird
Zheng Banqiao loved painting bamboo the most, and the bamboo branches he painted were few and thin. Just look at the poem he wrote between the paintings, and you will understand his meaning outside the painting. He used bamboo to symbolize people and himself.
When he was a county magistrate in Shandong, he sent a picture of thin bamboo to the inspection tour, and wrote a poem: "I lie down in the Yazhai and listen to the bamboos rustling, which is suspected to be the sound of suffering among the people; I, the county magistrate of Caozhou, Every branch and leaf is always related to love." Later, he offended his boss by opening a warehouse to provide loans to the victims of the disaster. When he resigned and returned to his fields, he painted thin bamboos and presented them to the gentlemen of Weixian County. He wrote a poem saying: "Throw away the black gauze and not become an official. Xiao Xiao's sleeves are cold. He writes about taking a thin bamboo and using it as a fishing rod on the river in autumn.
"From these two bamboo paintings and two poems, it can be seen that Banqiao, whether he is an official or resigns, is more face to reality and aware of the sufferings of the people. He does not have too much leisure and elegance to chant the wind and the moon, and only paints a few poles. Thin bamboo, to write about the suffocation in his chest. After Zheng Banqiao returned to his hometown, he spent his poor but upright life by painting bamboo.
Calligraphy Weird
Zheng Banqiao's calligraphy was mixed with seal script. , Li, Xing and Kai are mainly Li, with the beauty of painting and originality. It calls itself "six and a half calligraphy", and the world calls it the "stone-paved street" style. Its calligraphy is "rarely confused" and " "Suffering a loss is a blessing" has been passed down to this day and is loved by people from all walks of life. It is widely used in hotels, offices, homes and other places.
Painting Bamboo Monsters
Zheng Banqiao only painted orchids and bamboos throughout his life , stone. He believes that orchids are everlasting, bamboos are evergreen, and stones are everlasting, which is consistent with his stubborn and unruly character. His paintings usually only have a few bamboo poles, a stone, and a few orchids in their compositions. It is extremely simple, but the layout is very clever. The bamboo leaves and orchid leaves are all drawn in one stroke with thick and light ink. Although there is only one kind of black, it makes people feel the vitality of the orchid and bamboo. There were only a few of them, and none had more than four branches. He worked hard and diligently to observe these seemingly simple bamboos. He looked at the bamboos in the morning, at dusk, at moonlit nights, in the rain, and listened to the bamboos in the wind. There is bamboo. Therefore, he said: "For forty years, I have been painting bamboo branches during the day and thinking about it at night. I have cut away the complicated and thin bamboos, and the painting is still mature. "Therefore, Banqiao's bamboo painting integrates personal character, insights, ambitions, loves and hates into the brush and ink.