The most famous is Zheng Xie.
Zheng Xie (1693- 1765), a native of Banqiao, Jiangsu Province, was the champion of Kangxi in the imperial examination. He was a juren in the tenth year of Yongzheng and a scholar in the first year of Qianlong. Officials in Fanxian and Weixian counties in Shandong province have a political voice, demanding to relieve the hunger of the people and to be big officials, so they ask for illness. Before and after he became an official, he lived in Yangzhou and made a living by painting and calligraphy. He is good at drawing orchids, bamboos, stones, pines and chrysanthemums. But he painted orchids for more than 50 years and achieved the most outstanding results. Take the method from Xu Wei, Shi Tao and Badashan people to form a family law, which is sparse and strong. Calligraphy, with China's eight points mixed into cursive script, claims to be six and a half books. Calligraphy pen is integrated into painting. It advocates inheriting tradition, taking seven and abandoning three, and paying attention to artistic originality and diversification of styles. The so-called "no painting before, no pattern after, no pattern after painting" still has reference significance today. Poetry is sincere and interesting and deeply loved by the people. It can also be cured and printed. There are complete works of Zheng Banqiao, printed copies of Mr. Banqiao, etc.
His masterpiece is a picture of bamboo and stone. Banqiao takes "there is nothing to do in the chest" as the theory. He painted bamboo without the teacher's inheritance, but more from the sunlight and the moon shadow on the paper window powder wall, so he adopted a natural method directly. In response to Su Dongpo's statement that he had a well-thought-out plan, Banqiao stressed that he should have a well-thought-out plan. These two theories seem contradictory, but they are similar in essence. At the same time, they emphasize the high combination of conception and skill, but the method of Banqiao should be "like lightning and thunder, and all plants are angry." Banqiao's "Bamboo Stone Map" shows that bamboo stands tall and straight, rising from the ground. His leaves, each with a different expression, are dark and watery, with distinct shades, vividly showing the texture of bamboo. In composition, Banqiao handled the relationship between the position of bamboo and stone and the words used in poetry very harmoniously. The slender and quiet beauty of bamboo sets off another style of stone. This overgrown plant has become an ideal dreamland for Banqiao. Even Jin Nong, one of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", lamented the bamboo in Banqiao. Compared with their paintings, the bamboo he painted was not as elegant as Banqiao.
There is a saying that whenever I paint orchids, bamboos and stones, I use them to comfort the working people in the world, not to enjoy them.
Banqiao calligraphy, which claims to be "six and a half books", is painted in bluegrass, which is very natural and elegant, and the glyphs of seal, official script, grass and kai are extremely diverse. This running script of "Two Rest Yanglin Crossing the Head to the East" embodies the unique formal beauty of Zheng Banqiao's calligraphy art, and the word "Peach Blossom Shore" is particularly beautiful and moving. The unique style of Zheng Banqiao's new book initiated the history of calligraphy.