Dong Qichang (1555-1636), named Xuanzai, nicknamed Sibai, and also nicknamed Xiangguang Juqi, was a native of Huating (now Songjiang, Shanghai). In the seventeenth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1589), he became a Jinshi, selected common people, and was awarded the title of editor and editor. He was promoted to the Minister of Rites and was given the posthumous title Wenmin. He is talented and handsome, good at talking about fame and theory, but rarely good at calligraphy and painting. He copies original works and even forgets to sleep and eat.
Dong Qichang's "Purple Eggplant Poems" is a long scroll, 414 centimeters long and 24.5 centimeters high. It is fresh, elegant, and exquisitely beautiful, but it is also sophisticated. Although it cannot be said to be Dong's best work, it is still his superior masterpiece. The works in this volume are sparse and leisurely, with light singing and dancing. It is a typical portrayal of the spiritual life of literati and officials who do not care about food and clothing, but express their feelings and calligraphy.
This volume of "Purple Eggplant Poems" is a long cursive scroll, and Dong Qichang's inscription is dated "Bingzi March Hope", which is the ninth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1636). Dong Qichang was eighty-two years old, and died on the 11th of this year. Died in month. Therefore, this volume is truly Dong Qichang's final work, which is extremely precious.
