Zheng Xie (1693-1765), courtesy name Kerou, also known as Banqiao and Banqiao Taoist. A native of Xinghua, Jiangsu. Born in 1693, the 32nd year of Emperor Kangxi's reign in the Qing Dynasty. His father, Zheng Li'an, was a private teacher in the county and taught hundreds of students. Zheng Xie has been studying with his father since he was a child. He loves to read history books and poetry collections. He is erudite and has a strong memorization ability. He can recite all the books he reads. When he was young, he studied in Maojiawan, Zhenzhou. The scholars of Kangxi and Yongzheng went to Nanjing to pass the provincial examination in the year of Renzi (1732). In 1736, Bingchen, the first year of Qianlong's reign, went to Beijing to take the examination for the Ministry of Rites and passed the Jinshi examination. In 1742, the seventh year of Qianlong's reign, he was appointed magistrate of Fan County, Shandong Province. In 1746, the eleventh year of Qianlong's reign, he was transferred to the post of magistrate of Weixian County. Zheng Xie was an official and loved the people as his son. When he was the magistrate of Weixian County, it was a time of famine. Regardless of the obstruction of others, he opened a warehouse to loan grain, asked the people to write IOUs, and saved more than 10,000 people. He also carried out extensive construction, built pools, and recruited people. Hungry people work to eat. When autumn came and the harvest failed again, Zheng Xie burned the people's IOUs. The people of Weixian County were grateful for his kindness and built a shrine for him. Zheng Xie was very concerned about fairness in civil affairs, and there was no unjust case in twelve years. In 1748, the 13th year of Qianlong's reign, Qianlong traveled to Shandong and granted Zheng Xie the title of "History of Calligraphy and Painting". Zheng Xie carved a seal of his own: "History of Calligraphy and Painting in the East of Qianlong".
Zheng Xie was an upright official. Later, he resigned from office due to old illness and lived in Yangzhou. He had nothing but a few volumes of books, so he made a living by selling paintings. He is one of the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" and his poems, calligraphy and paintings are known as the "Three Wonders" by the world. His poets were Tao Yuanming and Lu Fangweng, and their bamboo paintings were like Su Dongpo's. Zheng Xie's calligraphy is a combination of running script and cursive script, forming a self-contained body. He calls himself "Six and a Half Script", and later generations call it "Banqiao" style.
His works include "Banqiao Poetry Notes", "Banqiao Ci Notes", "Banqiao Family Letters", "Banqiao Paintings", "Mr. Banqiao's Seal" and other self-engraved editions.
Zheng Banqiao paid attention to the observation of nature and surrounding things, and learned from nature. He wrote: "The wind is gentle and the sun is warm, and the frozen flies touch the window paper, and the sound of small drums is heard in winter. At this time, a piece of bamboo affects chaos, isn't it? It’s a natural painting! When I paint bamboo, I have no teacher. I mostly get it from paper windows, pink walls, sunlight and moonlight.”
Advocating that "the intention comes first from the pen"; he wrote on a painting: "In the clear autumn in Jiangguan, when I look at the bamboo in the morning, the smoke, light, sun, shadow and dew are all floating among the sparse branches and dense leaves. The bamboo in the chest is the meaning of painting. In fact, the bamboo in the chest is not the bamboo in the eyes. Therefore, the bamboo in the hand is not the bamboo in the chest when the ink is rubbed and the paper is put down. ; Those whose interests lie outside the law are turning into opportunities.
It’s so easy to paint alone! ”