Qi Baishi was born in poverty and only attended private school for less than a year before he put down his books and started herding cattle and cutting firewood to supplement his family's income. He became a carpenter's apprentice at the age of 15, learning rough carpentry first, then carving, portrait painting at the age of 26, painting and poetry at the age of 27, and embarked on an artistic path. After that, he left his hometown and went to make a living elsewhere. As early as when he was 12 years old, his parents married Chen Chunjun, a girl from a poor family, as a child bride. Chen Chunjun is one year older than Qi Baishi. As soon as she entered Qi's house, the girl helped her mother-in-law cook and wash clothes. She worked non-stop with her hands and feet from morning to night, and was deeply loved by the whole family. When Qi Baishi was 19 years old, his parents consummated his marriage with Chen Chunjun and they officially became husband and wife.
In 1916, the bandits spread the word that Qi Baishi had become rich in recent years and wanted to tie up his tickets. Qi Baishi took his family to seek refuge with relatives and friends in the mountains. The next year, 57-year-old Qi Baishi had no choice but to stay away from his relatives and settle in Beijing. Chen Chunjun was reluctant to leave behind what little money he had at home, and was willing to stay at home with his children. She was worried that Qi Baishi was out alone and had no one to take care of him, so she persuaded him to move into a second room. Recalling the day he left home, Qi Baishi recalled: "It was a continuous spring rain, and the pear blossoms in front of the borrowed mountain pavilion were in full bloom. My feelings of separation were like the pear blossoms in the rain, shedding tears for others. I am nostalgic. I feel very uncomfortable when I have to stay away from my hometown and have to avoid disaster."
After arriving in Beijing, Qi Baishi lived in Fayuan Temple and sold paintings and engravings. After the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1919, Chen Chunjun came to Beijing and hired Hu Baozhu as Qi Baishi's deputy. Hu Baozhu was originally from Fengdu, Sichuan. He was 18 years old at that time and 39 years younger than Qi Baishi. It can be said that he is an old man and a young wife. That winter, Chen Chunjun returned to Hunan and entrusted Hu Baozhu with the care of Qi Baishi's daily life. At that time, it was very common for men to take concubines, and it was almost a social custom. What's more, his wife Chen Chunjun took care of it for him and took care of his life, which was an act tolerated by the world.
Chen Chunjun valued Hu Baozhu very much. She came to Beijing three times in more than 20 years. Although she returned to Hunan in a hurry each time, she got along very well with Hu Baozhu, and Hu Baozhu never forgot the etiquette towards Chen Chunjun. . In the spring of 1940, Chen Chunjun passed away in Changsha at the age of 79. Looking back on the couple's life of more than 60 years, Mr. Baishi was very sad. He recalled: "Chunjun came to my house when he was 13 years old. He endured poverty and hardship without complaining. I sold paintings in Peking." In order to make a living, I came to the north to visit and traveled back and forth for more than 60 years. Although I have as many words as the sand in the Ganges, I can't tell you all the things that happened to a poor and humble couple. Once they died, I was deeply saddened, crying, and heartbroken. ." He made an elegiac couplet: "Old man Chisheng, why do we need to separate people when we are married? Ask the black-faced King of Hell, if you care about my life or death, you don't care about my reunion."
After Chen Chunjun's death, Old Man Baishi decided to make Hu Baozhu his main wife. On May 4, 1941, he invited more than 20 relatives and friends in Beijing to testify. He solemnly declared: "Hu's Baozhu will be the main wife." More than 20 people present Relatives and friends signed and stamped the genealogy, and in front of relatives, friends, children and grandchildren, he wrote in the genealogy: "In the future, the Qi family will continue the genealogy, and they will be called the stepmother." This move of the old man Baishi was responsible for Hu Baozhu. An old husband and a young wife, once he is a hundred years old, Hu Baozhu must have a title so that he can have inheritance and support in his old age. Unexpectedly, Hu Baozhu could not accompany Mr. Baishi throughout his life. In December 1941, Hu Baozhu passed away due to illness at the age of 44. He lost his wife again in his old age, which was a heavy blow to the 83-year-old Baishi. He said: "I originally thought that in my dying years, I would rely on her protection to deal with my posthumous affairs. She had to take care of it, but unexpectedly, she was already middle-aged and passed away early. Why didn’t I shed all my tears? It’s hard for me to suppress my sadness."
Old man Baishi is very sad about everything in his life. The love between the two ladies is so deep, and his two wives are willing to accompany the kind and loyal old man Baishi throughout their lives. It was they who helped Mr. Baishi avoid worries and achieve his great career in life. When future generations appreciate Shiraishi's masterpieces handed down from generation to generation, they should remember the two ordinary women behind the old man.