Among these four gifted scholars, Tang Bohu, Zhu Zhishan and Wen Zhiming are all famous for their calligraphy and painting. Xu Zhenqing is the only poet who is praised by the world for his poetic talent. His quatrains of "Jiang Yu, Yan" not only made him highly praised by scholars at that time, but also many people appreciate his words very much now. Here is a digression, because Xu Zhenqing and the four are good at different fields, so they are often confused by later generations. Because after Xu Zhenqing, a great painter appeared in Wuxian County, and he was Xu Wei who started the new painting method in Ming Dynasty. Because his painting level is no less than the other three of the "Four Gentlemen" and his surname is Xu, people often confuse him with him.
Xu Zhenqing was very clever since he was a child. He liked reading very much and didn't want to know much. He was short of arts and sciences. He said, "There is not a book at home, but it knows everything". In his early years, he studied with, He Jingming, Kang Hai, Wang, Bian Gong and was called "the first seven scholars" in literary genre.
In terms of articles, Xu Zhenqing admired Qin and Han Dynasties and studied Han and Wei Dynasties in terms of ancient poems. His achievements in poetry are extremely high. He wrote many poems and won many "Xiong Wen". At the age of sixteen, Xu Zhenqing had already written "Qian Xin Ji". Xu Zhenqing tried many times in his early years, so his early poems are similar to those of Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi. After he became an official, his poetry was influenced by Li Mengyang, He Jingming, Di Gong and others, and he advocated that "literature must be in the Qin and Han Dynasties, and poetry must flourish in the Tang Dynasty".
Xu Zhenqing advocated retro in his articles and poems. He also launched a literary retro movement with, He Jingming, Bian Gong, Kang Hai, Wang, etc. His "On Art Record" pays special attention to expounding the argument of retro. It is worth mentioning that although his poems especially emphasize retro and elegant style, they gallop between Han and Tang dynasties, but they do not lose romantic meaning
Shen Deqian, a Qing Dynasty poet, compiled a collection of poems in Ming Dynasty. Among the four gifted scholars in the south of the Yangtze River, only the poems of Xu Zhenqing and Wen Zhiming were included. Wen Zhiming recorded only two poems, while Xu Zhenqing actually edited as many as 23 poems. Only in this way can we know his achievements in poetry. Among the "First Seven Scholars" at that time, Xu Zhenqing's literary name ranked third. Compared with the poems of the first two poets and He Jingming, his poems are known as "Li Qixiong, He Xu". Pointed out the basic feature of Xu Zhenqing's poetry-"deep feeling". His habits in the Central Plains are not deep, and the wind is still flowing on the left side of the Yangtze River. The style of Wuzhong School is still reserved and unique. "History of Ming Dynasty" summed up its poetic style with the word "melting the essence of police". He is good at seven words and close to the body, excellent quatrains, clear pronunciation and mellow voice, elegant style and meaningful feelings.
Although Xu Zhenqing's achievements are mainly in poetry, this does not mean that other places are poor. In terms of calligraphy, I studied under Li Yingzhen in my early years, and Wang Shizhen once said, "When the two kings write small script, they are very meticulous. The young grass teacher Huai Su imitates Su (Shi), Huang (Ting Jian), Mi (Bi) and the preface to Ji Wang, and takes the gains and losses of the preface to Ji Wang, aging it and becoming a family." Visible in calligraphy, Xu Zhenqing also has a place.
Although Xu Zhenqing's reputation is not as resounding as that of Tang Bohu and others in later generations, his poetic titles are still worthy of our admiration. In many TV series of later generations, Xu Zhenqing will be replaced by others, making up four other talents. However, while watching TV series, we also need to know that Xu Zhenqing is one of the four real talents in the south of the Yangtze River in history.
Xu Zhenqing believed in Taoism in his later years and studied health preservation. Ming Yu died at the age of 33 in the sixth year of Jiandu, the earliest of the four gifted scholars and the shortest in life. The envy of talents is embarrassing.