Wen Zhengming rejected King Ning for three reasons. One was related to his own experience. Wen Zhengming was a very famous painter, calligrapher, and writer in the Ming Dynasty. A movie "Tang Bo Hu Spots Autumn Fragrance" when we were young made us familiar with the character Wen Zhengming. The four male protagonists in the movie are Wenming Zheng, Tang Bohu, Zhu Zhishan and Xu Zhenqing. They are the four famous talents in the Jiangnan area. However, movies generally have an exaggerated tone. Historically, Wen Zhengming was a talented man whose calligraphy skills were spread as far as Japan. His painting level is also very high and he occupies a very important position in history. In the history of Chinese calligraphy and painting, he is known as the four Ming painters along with Tang Bohu, Qiu Ying and Shen Zhou. There are also many calligraphy and painting works of Wen Zhengming that have been handed down, which have a profound influence on later generations.
Wen Zhengming has a very gentle temperament. He has studied hard since he was a child and is very interested in painting. He and Tang Bohu were very different in personality at that time, but they still became very good friends. During the Ming Dynasty, the Eight-legged Writing System was implemented to recruit scholars, which placed great constraints on people's thinking. Wen Zhengming took the exam many times but failed. Later, on the recommendation of the Minister of Industry, he went to the capital to become a minor official. But Wen Zhengming's literary quality was very high, and his colleagues were very jealous of him. In this environment, Wen Zhengming finally decided to resign and return to his hometown to travel around the mountains and rivers. This was the first reason why he rejected King Ning.
The second reason is the idea of ??loyalty and patriotism that ancient people were exposed to since childhood. Although Wen Zhengming was not recognized for his talent, Zhu Chenhao in history was King Ning, who launched the rebellion. In the eyes of scholars, this is a very rebellious behavior. Moreover, King Ning himself did not hold national interests. He launched the rebellion not because he was oppressed and resisted like the peasant uprising army. He launched the rebellion simply because he wanted to be the emperor. Therefore, King Ning's recruitment of Wen Zhengming was rejected.
The third reason is that Wen Zhengming is a man of few words after all. Facing a behemoth like Prince Ning, he cannot refuse directly and can only pretend to be sick to save himself. In his later years, Wen Zhengming was deeply interested in landscapes and continued to study painting techniques and calligraphy. He left many popular works for future generations. Serving Prince Ning would not only be despised by future generations, but it was also not Wen Zhengming's personal pursuit.