Huang Gongwang is unique in the history of painting and is respected as the head of the "Four Yuan Schools". Since he was already a Quanzhen Taoist priest when he became famous, and traveled around the world, even his contemporaries did not tell clearly his place of origin, time and place of death. There are currently multiple versions of Huang Gongwang's birthplace, including Hangzhou, Songjiang, Changshu, Fuyang, Quzhou, Huizhou, Putian and Yongjia.
1. During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Huang Gongwang’s friend Wang Feng from Changzhou believed that Huang Gongwang was a “Hangzhou native”. He wrote in the poem “Inscribed on the Landscape of Huang Da Chi”: “The great idiot is famous for his reputation. Named Zijiu, from Hangzhou..."; 2. Zhong Sicheng of the Yuan Dynasty believed that Huang Gongwang was from Songjiang. He wrote in "Guilu Book": "Huang Zijiu, named Gongwang, was from Songjiang"; 3. A review of paintings in the late Yuan Dynasty. Xia Wenyan, a Tibetan and historical commentator, believed that Huang Gongwang was a native of Changshu. He wrote in "Tuhua Baojian": "Huang Gongwang... was a native of Changshu, Pingjiang. He was a prodigy in childhood, mastered the three sciences, knew all kinds of arts, and was good at everything. "Painting landscapes."; 4. The Shenzhou Guoguangshe edition of "Pictures and Paintings" written by Xia Wenyan also believes that Huang Gongwang is from Quzhou; 5. Volume 38 of "Ming Yitong Zhi" written in 1461: "Huang Gongwang, "Fuyang people", Ming Ling Dizhi's "Tonggu of Wanxing" also held the Fuyang theory, but Ming Wanli Chen Shan's "Hangzhou Prefecture" added the term "Huizhou people"; 6. "The Unification of the Qing Dynasty" in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty "Huang Gongwang, a native of Putian" is written in Volume 59 of "Annals of Lou County" written by Emperor Qianlong in Volume 30 of "Annals of Lou County": "... According to legend, the giant family of Putian was the younger brother of Lu Shentong in Changshu, Yiyun." 7. Yuan Dynasty At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Tao Zongyi of Huangyan believed that Huang Gongwang was from Yongjia (today's Wenzhou City). He wrote in Volume 8 of "Zhuigeng Lu" "Writing Landscape Secrets": "Huang Zijiu Sanren Gongwang, who called himself Da Chi, also called Yifeng, his surname Lu, who lived in Pingjiang and Changshu for generations, succeeded the Huang family in Yongjia."
Since Tao Zongyi of the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty believed that Huang Gongwang was "the Lu surname of Changshu descended from the Huang family of Yongjia", this seems to have been highly praised and widely circulated by later generations. However, most works written during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties do not say that the Lu family is a son, including the Ming Dynasty Zhong Sicheng of the Yuan Dynasty, "Lu Gui Bu", only "Zhuo Geng Lu" written by Tao Zongyi maintains the theory that the Lu surname succeeded the Huang surname. Until the early Qing Dynasty, Cao Futing's "Recording Ghost Book" published more details, saying that Huang Gongwang's surname was Lu, and his given name was Jian. "When he was still young, the Huang family of Wenzhou was the heir, so his surname was Yan. His father was ninety years old. At that time, the heir was established, and when he saw his son for a long time, he said: 'Huang Gong has been looking forward to his son for a long time.'" So he changed his surname to Huang, his given name was Gongwang, and his given name was Zijiu. "Changshu County Chronicle" written by Qian Lu Can of the Qing Dynasty also stated that Huang Gongwang's stepfather Huang Gong lived in the hills of Changshu. Called Huang Gongwang: I am the son of the Lu family, who lost his parents at a young age and was poor and helpless. The Huang family in Yongjia was old and had no children. He lived in a hill in the city. Seeing Gongwang's handsome appearance, he was so different that he begged to be his heir. However, judging from the fact that Huang Gongwang still insisted on calling himself "Pingyang Huang Gongwang" in his later years, and returned to his hometown in eastern Zhejiang despite his old age, the stepson's theory is actually conjecture.