Fang Shishu was originally a salt merchant. His biological father is Zhu Fang, and his uncle is Jin Fang, the special envoy of Shaanxi Province. As the second son, Fang Shishu was adopted by his uncle less than a month after his birth. He was very clever since he was a child, but he failed in rural exams many times. After the family fortune declined, after the death of his biological father and eldest brother, Fang Shishu had to give up his career and leave his hometown for salt. However, it seems that he has no business talent, but more of a poet and painter.
Fang Shishu began to create calligraphy and painting very early. His poem about painting tells the story of self-study: "When I was ten years old, I started to write, and the walls of the pillars were blackened. I didn't know it was a mountain until I was fifteen, and I knew there was no boat on the other side. Lonely and sad, seeing the difficulty of the Buddha, I never have much expertise. " After settling in Yangzhou, his creation was on the right track. According to "Yangzhou Original Record", "Wang". I heard that money extended the Yellow Valley to the seat, so scholars made great progress in the mountains and rivers and gained the reputation of shine on you. "
Wang Family is a famous salt merchant king. At that time, in Wang's home, inspired by the famous, he made great progress in painting and was recognized and praised by people at that time. As a disciple of Wang, one of the "Four Kings", his painting methods mainly come from Wang Yi and Wang, and he also pays attention to learning from nature, which contributes to the diversity of painting styles.
Fang Shishu was not bound by the shackles of "Lou Dongpai", but was widely recruited. His landscapes are as far away as Huang and Wang Meng, and he learns from Shen Zhou in Ming Dynasty, and is close to Wang Yi and Wang. He has established a mellow and clean style of pen and ink, which belongs to the "Zhengmai" series of literati paintings. He also likes to travel to famous mountains and rivers, and his works are magnificent and authentic. His work "Jiangshan Jiasheng Map" was collected by the Qing court and recorded in the sequel of Shiqu Baodi.
In the middle of Qing Dynasty, Yangzhou's most famous poetry and prose parties were attended by Fang families, such as "Repairing the Red Bridge" organized by Lu Jian, "Ode to the East Garden" organized by He Dongyuan, "Hanjiang River" organized by Zhang Si Kehe in Rangpu and "Nine-day Temple Tour" organized by Ma Yuelu. Fang Shishu also appeared in famous local cultural fairs, such as Xiaolinglong Mountain Pavilion, Shinohara Garden, Jean Pu Garden and Shiwan Garden.
Xiaoling Mountain Pavilion is the residence of Ma Yueyan, a famous salt merchant and bibliophile. Ma Yueyan was born in Qimen, Anhui, and then moved to Yangzhou, Jiangsu. He loved writing poems, collecting books and making friends with literati all his life. He was a representative of Huizhou merchants in Yangzhou in the early Qing Dynasty. He was named "Ermayina" after his brother Ma Yuelu. During the Yongzheng period, he built a small exquisite mountain pavilion in Yangzhou and made friends with celebrities. Scholars Quan, Li E, Jin Nong and others are frequent visitors to Xiaolinglong Pavilion.
Jean-Paul is located in the west of Xiaoling Mountain Pavilion on Mars, where Zhang and his two families live. Zhang is a native of Lintong, Anhui, and a native of Huanshan, Shexian, Anhui. First, Zhang pawned the land and Lu bought it. After Lu knew what had happened, he still gave it to Zhang, and Zhang certainly refused. Their humility embodies the ancient benevolent style. Later, Yan came forward to coordinate and each took half of the land to build another business to make way for the nursery. "The Story of Yangzhou's Original Ship" called this place "Ji Ya of Hanjiang River", and Zhou had "Rangputu". Fang Shishu once painted an old tree in a nursery, but now it's gone.
Fang Shishu was one of the five great poets in Yangzhou in the early years of Qianlong. His poems are as famous as Li E, Hu Qiheng, Tang Jianzhong and Yao. Zhang Cheng praised his poems as "like a spring breeze flowing through the water without leaving a trace". Today, Fang Shishu's Poems Around the Mountain are gone, but there are still poems handed down from generation to generation. According to Zhang Guobiao's History of Xin 'an Painting School, he also has a collection of poems of Huangshan Mountain.
It can be said that Fang Shishu was closely related to Huizhou salt merchants in Yangzhou at that time. They are not only friends and neighbors, but also like painting and poetry. The formation of this interactive group of literati, painters and salt merchants is a unique landscape in the history of southeast painting, and it also promotes the overall prosperity of Yangzhou painting. In addition, it plays a positive role in promoting the cultural prosperity of Huizhou merchants and Xin 'an painting school, and is also one of the conditions for forming the "Little Lion Painting School".
Because he studied under Ding Huang in his early years, Fang Shishu was deeply influenced by "archaizing" and paid more attention to "emptiness" than "reality" in painting. This "emptiness" is a scenery created by the heart, and "reality" is a scenery derived from nature. He measured the quality of painting by "whether the pen and ink are exquisite" and thought that painting was "another spectacle outside the world". Emphasize the role of subjective feelings, pay attention to the pen's "length and size, intermittent ups and downs", the pen and ink's "dry and wet shades, spirit and flesh" in the process of painting, and construct the pen and ink interest of the picture with the layout of "the guest and the host are opposite, scattered and gathered".
Fang Shishu began to contact and study Xin 'an paintings in his later period. His early imitation of the past made him unable to appreciate the beauty of nature with his heart. Although he also painted the themes of Huangshan Mountain and Baiyue Mountain, his skills were often taken from Lou Dongpai Road, which led to a different style from the traditional Xin 'an School. Although he is slightly inferior to the "verve" of Xin 'anzhen landscape, the beauty of pen and ink makes his works unique. In addition, his painting theory, like his paintings, is quite inspiring to later generations.
He once said: "Mountains and rivers and vegetation make nature. So is this reality; Because the mind creates the environment, the heart is transported by hand, and this virtual environment is also. Virtual and real, in the pen and ink, balance right and wrong and work hard. " This shows that the painter attaches importance to the combination of subjective feeling and pen and ink interest. And the "realm" he said is the product of the blending of the spirit of pen and ink created from the heart and the realistic scenery. As a famous painter and the founder of "Little Lion Painting School", Fang Shishu made in-depth research and exploration on painting methods and artistic concepts, which was also cherished by later scholars.