In the sixth year of Chenghua in Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1470), Tang Bohu was born into an official family.
Tang Bohu's ancestor was Tang Hui, a former general during the Sixteen Countries Period in Wuhu.
Because of his outstanding military exploits, he was awarded the title of "Jinchang Taishou", so Tang Bohu often wrote the word "Jinchang Tang Yin" on his paintings and calligraphy.
It can be seen from this incident that he is very proud of his background.
In the Tang Dynasty, his ancestor Tang Jian fought with Li Yuan and Taiyuan.
But by his father's generation, his family had declined.
Tang Bohu's father, Tang Guangde, ran a restaurant and accumulated a small fortune.
Tang Bohu was gifted since childhood, and he was familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics and read widely. 15 years old, the first in Suzhou government examination.
Tang Bohu, Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhiming and Xu Zhenqing are also called "four gifted scholars in Wuzhong".
Together with Shen Zhou, Wen Zhiming and Chou Ying, they are called "Four Wu Men".
After his death, his relatives and friends Wang Chong, Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhiming, etc. Chip in for the funeral and buried in the ancestral grave of Wang Jiacun in Hengtang.
Zhu Yunming wrote an epitaph of more than a thousand words for Tang Bohu, which was written by Wang Xian and engraved on a stone tablet.
Most of Tang Bohu's life stories in later generations were obtained from this epitaph.
Because Tang Bohu lived an open and aboveboard life, his personality and painting style were excellent, so in order to commemorate him, people kept repairing his grave.
Folk legend has it that Tang Yin was born in Yinri, silver moon in 200 AD, hence his name Tang Yin. Yin is a tiger, so the word Bohu.
But in fact, according to Tang Yin's epitaph, Tang Yin was born on the fourth day of February in the sixth year of Chenghua, which was the ugly day in Uzuki the following year. Therefore, Tang Yin's name "Yin" is indeed related to the lunar year, but he was born in the lunar year instead of the lunar year, hence the name Tang Yin.
The case of Tang Yin's cheating in the imperial examination is controversial in history.
The Book of Filial Piety records the whole event in great detail. Although Cheng, Tang Yin and he were punished, they were convicted not for cheating, but for lack of evidence.
In March, under torture, Xu Jing "expressed political sensitivity and accepted his gold coins"; In June, after interrogating Xu Jing, he "said that he came to Beijing and was eager to learn from Qian. He told three questions." And Tang Yin after writing, it is full of praise. ""Writing is actually a combination of examination questions. "
To put it simply, Tang Yin befriended Cheng with spending money. As a result, Cheng was admitted. So the three were considered to be suspected of fraud.
It is a fact that Tang Yin begged Cheng with gold coins before the exam. Therefore, there is a certain basis for the official to judge that he was stopped as an official because of misconduct and not avoiding suspicion.
These paintings absorbed many talents and eventually became a school of their own.
Tang Bohu's landscape painting started from copying, and after the process of continuous innovation, it finally became its own.
He achieved great success in landscape painting,
One is because of his talent.
Second, because he can accept most of the paintings of the school of painting, his aesthetics are diversified. Whether it is the painting style of the Central Plains in the Northern Song Dynasty, the courtyard painting in the Southern Song Dynasty, or even the Jiangnan painting school, we can learn from each other's strong points and finally form our own unique style through continuous exploration.
Thirdly, Tang Bohu once traveled to famous mountains and rivers, and had a personal experience of the magnificent scenery of mountains and rivers. Other painters in the "Wumen Fourth Courtyard" are only familiar with the small landscape of the garden, and their paintings are limited to copying and depicting mountains and rivers. They learn painting from other people's paintings and have no real feelings of their own, so they are weaker than Tang Yin in imposing manner and authenticity.
It is also because Tang Yin's paintings are more realistic, which makes viewers feel very real after reading them. Because of its changeable painting style, it often brings freshness to the audience.
However, the diversity of styles and the fact that the paintings are not dated make it difficult for future generations to distinguish when Tang Bohu's paintings were created.
When Tang Bohu was young, he was arrogant, relying on poetry, calligraphy and painting, claiming to be the first talented person in the south of the Yangtze River.
Such arrogance will certainly offend many people. His father's repeated advice was useless after all.
Finally, I was jealous because I was too arrogant and really talented, which brought trouble to my family. Angered by others, he went to their home to make a scene. Finally, I had an argument with my father, which made my father very angry. His younger brother and sister are alienated from him, and his mother is alienated from her children because of her husband's death soon. This also led to a greater contradiction between him and his brother and sister.
From then on, Tang Bohu was devastated, drugged himself with alcohol all day, and even often went to places where fireworks were set off. Later, he got into the habit of gambling. Not only did he squander the property left by his father, but the casino design also owed him a lot of gambling money. Finally, he had to pay off his debts with his family's house, which made his brothers and sisters homeless.
Fortunately, my brother Tang Shen has already worked, took out all his savings and bought another yard. Although the hut was broken, he finally settled down with his family and found a place to stay, but he announced that he would sever contact with his brother Tang Bohu.
When the house leaked, it rained all night, and my sister Tang Xiu caught a cold and died in a few days.
Tang Bohu's family is ruined, and the only remaining brother is still a stranger to himself. By the time he was in his twenties, white hair had appeared on his head.
Every time I think of my father, mother and sister, Tang Bohu's heart is like a boulder. Since then, he has been more depraved and drunk all day. Only when he is drunk can he forget the departure of his three closest relatives.
Tang Bohu married three people in his life. His first wife, Xu Tingrui's second daughter, came from a noble family. They got married in Tang Yin 19. After marriage, Xu gave birth to a son for Tang Yin. Originally, the family was very happy. As a result, after Tang Bohu's father died in 1494, his mother, wife, sister and son died one after another.
Tang Bohu was left alone, and the heavy blow made the gifted scholar very sad. 26 years old, in the prime of life.
Seeing that Tang Bohu was demoralized and about to be deposed, his friend Zhu Yunming tried his best to persuade him to turn grief into strength, study hard and strive for fame and fortune in order to reverse his misfortune.
With the encouragement of friends, Tang Bohu gradually stepped out of the shadow of life and married a second wife.
At the age of 29, Tang Bohu won the first place in the imperial examination and became famous. The next year, when he went to Beijing with confidence to take the exam, unfortunately, he came again. Because of the influence of cheating in the examination room, Tang Bohu was driven back to his hometown and can only be a small official forever.
The crackdown on fraud and the court's decision virtually cut off Tang Bohu's career path, leaving this brilliant talent disheartened. Since then, he has been depressed and in a daze.
Under the pressure of life, his second wife made him a small official according to the decision of the court, but Tang Bohu was ashamed to take office.
In poverty, husband and wife often make a scene, and finally the second wife really didn't want to live with him and left him.
From then on, Tang Bohu became more depressed, and he was reduced to selling calligraphy and painting for a living. With money, he will go to a brothel and let his life slip away.
In whoring in a brothel, Tang Bohu met the person who likes and can read himself best in life. This man is official prostitute Shen nine niang.
Shen nine niang is a famous prostitute in Suzhou. She looks dignified and elegant, and she is proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. In the long run, the spirit of the two is highly compatible. Shen nine niang respects Tang Bohu's talent. In order to make Tang Bohu have a good painting environment, she packed her cosmetic box, grinded inkstone, colored and laid paper for him around Tang Bohu, and had no regrets.
Accompanied by Shen nine niang, Tang Bohu devoted himself to painting, and his painting skills became more and more exquisite. He injected the tenderness and beauty he had learned from Shen nine niang into his paintings, making the characters in his works more affectionate and swaying.
From beginning to end, Tang Bohu didn't treat Shen nine niang as a prostitute, which made Shen nine niang even more moved. After a long time, Tang Bohu bought a small piece of land in Suzhou Taohuawu, built a Peach Blossom Temple and married Shen nine niang, which became his last home.
Tang Bohu wrote a poem about his happiness at this time:
Taohuawu Taohua Temple, Taohuaguan Taohuaxian.
Peach Fairy cultivates peach trees, picks them and drinks them.
Sit in front of the flowers when you wake up, and sleep under the flowers when you are drunk.
Half awake and half drunk day after day, flowers bloom year after year.
I would rather die of old age than bow in front of horses and chariots.
……
This poem Peach Blossom Temple pursues the spirit of freedom and resistance to power in a charming and unconventional way.
It is madness to regard the powerful people of chariots and horses as dust and divide the people of hops into heaven and man.
Whether crazy or not, flowers sit alone drinking and pouring wine, each with its own romantic feelings.
Even those who were rich and noble before their death.
Finally, it is not a green grave, but a pile of bones.
So how to live and how to live depends on your heart.
I would rather die of old age in this flower field than wait on horses in front of the saddle.
This is Tang Bohu's broad-minded mind to live and work in peace and contentment, and also his life realm of poetry and wine.
After the completion of Taohua Temple, the poet lived a long-awaited seclusion life.
The relaxed and lively life makes the poet's heart fall, as if he were reborn.
15 10, Suzhou was flooded, and the business of selling paintings in Tang Bohu became colder and colder.
The burden of the family also fell on Shen nine niang, who was terminally ill because of overwork. Before he died, Shen nine niang held Tang Bohu's hand tightly and said, "I want to be your wife, but I want to manage the housework as much as I can, so that you can concentrate on poetry and painting and become everyone. But I have no happiness, no longevity, and I am incompetent. I'm dying. I hope you take care of yourself. "
15 14. The 44-year-old was forced to work in Ning.
But then he found out that Wang Ning was trying to rebel, and he was in deep danger.
It is said that in order to force Wang Ning to release him, he had to play dumb.
Even streaking in the street can get away with it.
The untimely death of Shen nine niang gave Tang Bohu the heaviest blow in his life. Since then, he has often drowned his sorrows by drinking, feeling that he has nothing to be lovely about. This has also made his health worse and worse, and even he can't draw any more. When life became unsustainable, he had to borrow money to make a living.
A series of misfortunes in life and the sudden decline of confidante make this ill-fated wit no longer persist.
Tang Bohu and Shen nine niang have a daughter named Shen Tao.
When Shen Tao grew up, his mother was a prostitute in Suzhou, and his father Tang Bohu was poor, so few people came to court. In Tang Bohu's later years, the famous calligrapher Wang Chong often came to help Tang Bohu. In the communication, both of them sincerely appreciate each other's talents and become friends who have never forgotten each other.
Wang Chong simply let his son marry Tang Bohu's daughter and became in-laws with Tang Bohu. This made Tang Bohu overjoyed and very happy. Seeing her daughter Shen Tao get married before her death became the happiest thing for Tang Bohu in her later years. From then on, he was carefree.
From 65438 to 0523, Tang Bohu came to the end of his life in poverty. On his deathbed, with trembling hands and a resentful and world-weary heart, he wrote a poem: Born in the dead, there is a farewell party, why not die in hell? Dead people are almost the same as dead people. You should only wander in a foreign land.
Tang Bohu died quietly in poverty at the age of 54. As for the cause of his death, future generations may judge from the poem in his "Burning Medicine Map" that it may be lung disease.