Dong Qichang's accomplishments in calligraphy and painting are highly praised by later generations, and his calligraphy and theory even influenced the calligraphy circle of later generations. He put forward that "learning ancient books is bound to fall into evil ways", and strongly opposed "no different from truth" in learning ancient posts, breaking through predecessors and finding another way.
Jumping out of three levels, which are similar to ancient times, similar to gods and both in form and spirit, aims to show the true colors of calligraphers. In order to explore the brushwork of the ancients, Dong Qichang also invented a set of methods: writing Mi Fei's "Horse Talent" with the meaning of Lanting's pen; Write thousands of words of Huai Su with Wang Xianzhi's brushwork ... and so on.
It is no exaggeration to say that the emergence of Dong Qichang's viewpoint is a watershed for the concept of calligraphy to go to ancient times. After becoming famous, the value of paintings and calligraphy works of past dynasties soared immediately if they were named by others. It's just that this once-in-a-century wizard was rejected because his handwriting was too ugly when he was seventeen.
According to Dong Qichang's Essays on Painting Zen Rooms, "The county is in the middle of Hongxi, Jiangxi, second only to other books. Naturally, I started to get angry ... "According to him, at the age of seventeen, I got the first place in Songjiang Prefecture, because the words written were too" unsightly "for Songjiang magistrate. The result was changed to the second place.
After that, Dong Qichang began to learn calligraphy from Lin Tie, and eventually became a master of calligraphy, painting and appreciation. In the seventeenth year of Wanli (A.D. 1589), Dong Qichang was admitted as a scholar. Scholar's promotion means that once salted fish turns over, from the "change of dynasty" when delivering newspapers and recording good news, buttering up and sending money will follow.
In the Ming Dynasty, taxes were very heavy. According to the regulations, people can not only get tax exemption, but also get various benefits. During the Wanli period, some merchants who took the post road and waterway spared no expense to hire juren to sit in the town in order to avoid the toll.
After Dong Qichang was admitted to the Jinshi, he first worked in imperial academy, and later became an official of Zhu Changluo, the eldest son of the emperor. Later, he served as the deputy envoy of Huguang, Fujian and Henan to participate in politics. Frankly speaking, when Dong Qichang was an official, he had a good reputation.
The History of the Ming Dynasty once commented on it: "Righteousness and righteousness, communication, small acceptance, no common saying all day long." Peaches and plums say nothing, but they go their own way. When he was in the Hanlin Academy, he won a lot of praise from the scholars with a recruit. Tian Yijun, assistant minister of rites, took a leave of absence and walked thousands of miles to escort his funeral.
When the teacher died, Dong Qichang asked for leave to protect the pivot and sent it to Datian County, Fujian Province. Later, he was an imperial envoy, awarded the title of Taichang Taiqing, served as an official for three times, and retired from office for eighteen or twenty-eight years. After returning to China in a high position, naturally many people are persistent.
At this time, Dong Qichang, with his "gradual change of painting style", was greedy, violent, old and fishing, just like a local tyrant. In the end, the famous "people copied Dong Huan" incident evolved. Zhicheng Deng, a historian, denounced in Gu Dong's Notes in his later years: "It is feasible to think of white calligraphy and painting, but is it unique elegance to do evil like this?" .
Before the incident of "the people copied Dong Huan", it was circulated among the people that "if you want to be strong, you should kill Dong Qichang first". After returning to Dong Qichang, the rank is higher than that of local officials, and people who take refuge in his family are in an endless stream. By accepting money and a lot of money, they accumulated a lot of wealth in a short time.
Not only are there many wives and concubines, but the land is fertile. They even bought hundreds of cruise ships and became the richest man in Songjiang. The poor scholar, who was originally down and out, showed humility when he was an official, but when he returned home, he was a different face. He is not only a first-class painter and painter, but also a complete bully.
Even in painting and calligraphy, in order to cope with many buyers, Dong Qichang openly asked someone to ghostwrite, so that there were many fakes circulating in the market at that time. The cause of the incident of "people copying Dong Huan" was that 60-year-old Dong Qichang took a fancy to Liu Ying, the daughter of Liu Shaofang, a tenant in Zhu Sheng.
His second son, Dong Zuchang, learned of his father's intention and took someone to rob Lu Ying to be a concubine for Lao Zi. Lu Shaofang was very indignant at Dong Shi's father and son's seizure of the commoner, and told everyone about it, which was well known for a while.
People have long been quite dissatisfied with Dong Jia's evil deeds. Some people even made up a "black and white biography" story, and even storytellers beat the story everywhere. Dong Qichang suspected that a man named Fan Chang was behind the scenes, so he sent someone to arrest Fan Chang and forced him to ask.
Fan Chang, who was frightened, eventually died of sudden illness. Fan's mother led her daughter-in-law, Gong Shi, and her grandson, Dong Shi, to Dongjiamen, demanding an explanation. As a result, Dong Qichang and his son ordered the slaves to fight with them, and they were humiliated behind closed doors, which was extremely cruel.
Even after receiving the complaint, the government turned a blind eye to it. The heinous crime of "nail house arresting people every day" finally aroused public anger. For five days in a row, flying badges were posted all over the street, and posters denouncing Dong Qichang were posted everywhere in the street. Businessmen and people who were bullied by Dong Shi in Huizhou, Huguang, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Shanxi joined in.
Five days later, more and more people gathered. Angry people rushed into Chen Ming's house under Dong Qichang and demolished dozens of elite houses. People from Qingpu and Jinshan in Shanghai simply set fire to hundreds of beautiful houses in Dong's family.
On the ninth day, people still in turmoil burned down Dong Qichang's bookstore in Bailongtan, and many famous calligraphy and paintings that had been treasured for many years were also set on fire. After the incident, the ruling and opposition parties shook, and Dong Qichang went into hiding with his family. It took half a year before he dared to go home.
Supposedly, Dong Qichang caused such a big thing and aroused public anger, but the incident ended hastily. Above the imperial court, although the only Zaifu Ye who presided over the state affairs has just been allowed to resign, Dong Qichang still has deep connections.
In addition, Emperor Zongshen neglected political affairs for many years, and the party struggle between the DPRK and China was fierce. After the case was tried jointly by Suzhou, Changzhou and Zhenjiang, the court did not dare to offend Dong Qichang, who was an imperial envoy. Just going through the motions, it gives a conclusion that "slave generation is illegal and Dong Huan is unknown". On the contrary, some Confucian scholars in Songjiang Prefecture were deprived of fame, some participated in the destruction of Dongfu, and some were sentenced to death.
Three years later, the emperor died, Dong Qichang and Ye reopened, and Dong Qichang was awarded Taichang and Taiqing, and the five-year official of the Apocalypse went to Nanjing to make history. At this time, no one in Songjiang mansion dared to ask.
Throughout the Ming Dynasty, Dong Qichang was the only one who held a high position and made such brilliant achievements in art, so officials drilled around; After returning to China, Yucun became a local tyrant, talented but lacking in character.
Later, the pursuit of art was more like a bridge to pave the way for political capital. In the first year of the Apocalypse, Wei Zhongxian was good at politics, and Ye once again became a mountain record, and the two became incompatible.
Dong Qichang, on the other hand, can strike a balance between interests. While making friends with Ye, he tried to please Wei Zhongxian and often painted his couplets. After Wei Zhongxian fell, he immediately set up a monument and wrote a book for Lindong party member, and was completely moved.
Dong Qichang became a bully because of his own greed and arrogance, and it was also related to the tolerant atmosphere of artists in the Ming Dynasty. With the status of a senior official, the title of an artist has in turn become the capital that runs rampant in the village.
Therefore, even my friend Chen Jiru, in "Flowers in Peace", mocked the words of others: "Today, painting depends on the official, tomorrow, the official depends on painting".
(This article was published in both headlines and penguins)