In the just-concluded Jiade Spring Auction, a set of regular script album pages by Fu Shan (Fu Qingzhu) was sold at the Daguan Ancient Painting and Calligraphy Night Market. This work is indeed a rare masterpiece from Fu Shan. The atmosphere at the nightclub was not very lively. The auction started lower than the estimate. The lowest estimate of 3.5 million yuan was hammered down, and the transaction price was 4.025 million yuan. Because Fu Shan's works are so rare, even if the market is down, there will still be strong demand. One album page is worth more than 4 million, making it rare to see.
Fu Shan's Regular Script Lin Zhujia Shu Album RMB 4,025,000
Fu Shan’s calligraphy in the auction market
Most of Fu Shan's lifetime creations have been handed down and collected by museums (see appendix). The number of works circulating in the auction market is very small. In the past ten years (2006-2016), less than a thousand works were auctioned. Most of these works are calligraphy, and a small number are paintings and albums.
Auction statistics show that Fu Qingzhu is an all-round calligrapher who can write with ease in a variety of calligraphy styles, with running script and cursive script being the most common. It can also be seen from the style characteristics and expressions of his calligraphy works that Fu Shan himself The freedom and passion never fade away.
Cursive script "Poetry for Yu Qing Ci Zhang", hand scroll, ink on damask
Transaction price: RMB 48,720,000 2010-11-21 China Guardian
In addition, more than 90% of Fu Qingzhu's works are auctioned in mainland China, and almost all of the high prices are generated by mainland auction houses, especially the Beijing-Tianjin and Yangtze River Delta regions, which are the main areas that create high prices. And he himself is from Shanxi and has a collection culture. The historical foundation is based on Shanxi as the center and radiating to the surrounding areas. The aesthetics of calligraphy requires higher literacy and cultural heritage, so the mainland has created this market's love for calligraphy. In recent years, as the academic level of the auction market has improved, the price and demand for calligraphy have increased more significantly.
Like the calligraphers of Fu Qingzhu's contemporaries, they all faced dynasty changes and had different political opinions and opinions. Among them, the more outstanding one was Wang Duo, who has the reputation of "the king after him is better than the king before him (Wang Xizhi)". The price distribution of the two is also very close.
Comparison of calligraphy and painting transactions between Fu Shan and Wang Duo
From a market perspective, the circulation volume of the two people is not large, but they have a common feature. They are all calligraphy works with high prices. Because Wang Duo has a large official career, he may have relatively more social works, so the auction volume of Wang Duo's works is basically double that of Fu Shan's. The distribution gap between the two high prices is not obvious. Fu Qing's highest price is 4782 10,000 yuan is slightly better than Wang Duo’s 45.36 million yuan, and the high prices are mainly for calligraphy works. However, in terms of price per square foot, the price per square foot of Fu Qingzhu's works is nearly double that of Wang Duo. Fu Qingzhu's highest price per square foot is about 7.15 million, and Wang Duo's highest price is about 4.74 million. Wang Duo has more works, distributed in There are more works in other price ranges, but the highest unit price and highest square foot price are higher for Fu Qingzhu. If the circulation of works is large and the market has the resources to increase the price of works, then only a few hundred of Fu Qingzhu’s works have been sold, but There is a good market, what is the reason?
From the perspective of calligraphy skills, the two are equally matched. Fu Qingzhu believes: "The person writes first, and people have unique calligraphy since ancient times." Therefore, his calligraphy has always been upholding integrity and focusing on the expression of personality, and he has pursued this creative principle throughout his life. , developed to the extreme, thus establishing his important position in the history of Chinese calligraphy. Wang Duo is good at calligraphy, and his brushwork is vigorous, free and easy, and full of joy. His ink writing has been passed down from generation to generation, and many of his calligraphy writings, ruler slips, and inscriptions are engraved in stone. The most famous ones are "Xuanshan Garden Calligraphy" and "Langhua Pavilion" Posts".
One thing is that Master Fu Qing has more integrity. Adhere to "not be a second minister". When he was forced to be "promoted" to be an official, he refused to do so and returned. He persisted in studying knowledge in seclusion. In turn, Wang Duo also became a high-ranking official in the Qing Dynasty because of his wealth of knowledge, but in the eyes of later generations of literati, their statuses were still different. Literati with more integrity are naturally highly respected.
The reasons for the outstanding performance of Fu Shan's calligraphy works in the secondary market can be roughly divided into two aspects: his historical status in the calligraphy world and the supply and demand relationship in today's Chinese art trading market.
In terms of the relationship between supply and demand, one of the basic rules followed by the art trading market in China and even the world is "high-quality products come first". If a work of art is high-quality and has a small amount of existence, then this work is completely in line with the Chinese art trading market. The standard for “high-precision” auction items in the market. No matter from every aspect, Fu Shan's works fully meet this standard. Therefore, the future growth of his works can still be expected.
Fu Shan’s top 10 transaction statistics from 2006 to 2016 (RMB transaction statistics)
In addition, it is worth mentioning that among the rare ancient books, there are also a small number of Fu Qingzhu's medical books, which are not expensive but very precious. In modern bookstores, there are also various versions of Fu Qingzhu's medical books. Of course, the important thing about ancient books is not the version, but the method that the author wants to convey to save the world and save people.
The Complete Works of Yangqu Fu Qing's Master in Gynecology 2 Letters and 8 Volumes
In fact, the first thing I knew about Fu Qingzhu was not his calligraphy, but his status as a "medical sage". How could he have such a great side job and achieve such a high level as a "medical saint"? This starts from the happy life of Master Fu Qing in his early years. He was successful as a young man and married to a beautiful wife. Since the death of Fu Qingzhu's 27-year-old wife due to overwork, the happy life has turned into endless thoughts, which have been carefully sealed away. With this infatuation, Fu Qingzhu, who never remarried, worked hard to study medicine. He was particularly successful in gynecology and wrote "Fu Qingzhu Women's Medicine". In ancient times, most Chinese medicine doctors were men. They disdained or were not good at gynecology, and they were also very indifferent when seeing doctors. Convenient, therefore, there are very few classics on gynecological research. One can imagine the importance of this classic. In addition, there are also works handed down from generation to generation such as "Fu Qingzhu Andrology" and "Secrets of Qingsang", which live up to the name of "Medical Saint".
Conclusion
When it comes to collecting calligraphy, young calligrapher Mr. Zhang Peng said: Behind every famous calligrapher, there is a great contribution to society. He is not only a famous minister, but also a wise man. Literati do not rub sand in the eyes of history. This is It has nothing to do with money, and you will never accept a calligrapher with poor character for money. There are also many talented calligraphers among traitors in history, but literati never value them when collecting them. Therefore, to appreciate a work, you must understand the story behind it and the life of the artist, in order to truly understand the beauty of the work.
Fu Shan's lifelong efforts have earned him a wealth of knowledge. Although he failed to fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, the integrity he left behind is widely praised, and he has a decisive right to speak in history. This kind of voice, the more silent, the less choice, the stronger It is deeply rooted in people's hearts, has gone through countless baptisms of time, and has gone through changes again and again, and talks with us. When we pursue that rare integrity that unites people's hearts, it will eventually be reflected in the market value. But how can such a story and such a work be measured in terms of money?
Attachment: What’s so good about Fu Shan’s calligraphy?
Fu Shan's experience in learning calligraphy: There is no skill in writing, only clumsiness. The miraculous births of the positive pole turn into great skill and clumsiness. If you don't believe it, just have an idea before you start writing. I want to make the character look like this, and the structure of the meaning will be exactly the same after it is formed. You can also know that Tian Ni cannot be artificial in this. Skilled hands are capable, and the words are clear. Forty years ago, Wang Duo tried his best to create his own characters, but forty years later, he had no intention of cooperating with the production, so he was able to make everyone happy.
The regular script part of "Solo Miaohan" is the pinnacle of fragmentation and ugliness
Fu Shan often regarded himself as a disciple of Lao and Zhuang, and said: "In the winter of Guisi, I moved from Fenzhou to Tutang, and my only luggage was the Nanhua Sutra, which was always in my eyes." This is also the theoretical source of his "Four Nings and Four Nots" theory. Mr. Zhang Peng, a young calligrapher, once wrote a special article to analyze Fu Shan's "Four Nings and Four Nots". The "Four Nings and Four Nots" come from Fu Shan's "Xun Zi Tie" and embody Taoist aesthetics. The "Four Nings and Four Don's" are "Better ugly than flattering, clumsy than cunning, preferring fragmentation to slippery, and preferring straightforwardness to arrangements." Mr. Zhang even emphasized that simplification and ugliness and clumsiness cannot be simply understood. Beauty must come first. Only with cleverness, arrangement, and calligraphy skills reaching a certain level can the ugliness and clumsiness advocated by Fu Qingzhu be realized. This is a state. It does not mean that you have to be ugly or clumsy from the beginning. This not only misunderstands Fu Qingzhu's original intention of teaching future generations, but also It is simply impossible to achieve such a height of "the most clever thing is ugly".
Words are like people. Fu Shan's words are just a reflection of his personality, and Fu Shan's talents and knowledge are spread across many fields. He is not only a famous Taoist scholar, but also in philosophy, medicine, inner alchemy, Confucianism, Buddhism , poetry, He is knowledgeable in calligraphy, painting, epigraphy, martial arts, textual research and other fields. He is the author of "Shuanghong Niji Collection" and so on. It is extremely admirable to have a literary character throughout your life. He once lived in the Ming Dynasty and lived in seclusion in an earthen house to raise his mother. During Kangxi's reign, he was promoted to Hongbo, but he had to resign repeatedly. When he arrived in Beijing, he claimed that he was old and sick and returned without trying. Fu Qingzhu, together with Gu Yanwu, Huang Zongxi, Wang Fuzhi, Li Yong and Yan Yuan, was called the "Six Masters of the Early Qing Dynasty" by Liang Qichao.
Speaking of integrity, it can be said that this is a personal choice. Fu Shan chose not to do anything, and lived in seclusion in the mountains and forests. He was poor but admirable, and had great influence among the literati at that time. There have been many examples since ancient times. The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove in the Wei and Jin Dynasties had great differences on this issue. Shan Tao, who was serious about being a good official (incorruptible, had political ambitions, and good officials are needed in any dynasty), was beaten to death for not being an official. Ji Kang, who is an official, Ruan Ji, who will die or live hard if he becomes an official. Everyone does not want to be a second minister, but due to the pressure of life, not everyone has the conditions and determination to do so. Therefore, it is hard to wait for it. This choice naturally has a distinction between superior and inferior in the eyes of later generations of literati, "The choice Analects of Confucius" There is a saying: "If you take it from above, you will get it from within; if you take it from there, you will get it from below; if you take it from below, you will get nothing. " Although few people are as thorough as Fu Qingzhu, his character is the "top" pursued by later generations of literati, and he is the most worthy of admiration.
In addition, when mentioning Fu Shan, one cannot fail to mention one of his important assistants in life, his son Fu Mei who ghostwritten for him in his old age and stayed with him throughout his life. Fu Mei inherited the essence of his calligraphy, and was his hope for the restoration of the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty throughout his life. The auction house includes many collaborations between the two as well as Fu Mei's own works.
Fu Mei's calligraphy is the inheritance and development of Fu Shan's calligraphy. The father and son also have many collaborative works.
Fu Shan Fu Mei Cursive Script Volume
Transaction price RMB 990,000 Auction time 1999-07-04 Beijing Hanhai Auction Co., Ltd.
The calligraphy of father and son is indeed very similar, and Fu Mei followed his father's teachings of "Four Nings and Four Unfortunatenesses", with "ugly" and "clumsy" taking precedence.
Fu Mei's Yilan Poetry and Calligraphy, Vertical Scroll
Transaction price RMB 143,000 Auction time 2008-03-30 Anhui Yihai Auction Co., Ltd.
In the end, the helplessness of the white-haired man leaving the black-haired man, the sadness of the old father who was more sad than the heartbreak, were all written in "Poem of a Crying Son", which is also a classic of Fu Shan's calligraphy. "Crying Son Poems: Crying Characters" talks about Fu Mei's corresponding conditions and abilities in writing on behalf of her father's entertainment. Fu Shan's "Poems of Crying Son·Crying Characters" says: The time between similarity and dissimilarity means thirty years of separation. The blue sky is thousands of miles away, and it is passed down from heart to hand by Duer. Zhang Cao's self-administration also led to Zhang Suoyuan. The seal method is sent to eight points, and the Han Dynasty stele is studied in Jin Dynasty. The small seal script was initially lush and beautiful, but I thought it was too ripe and round. "Shigu" and "Yishan", appreciate Chou Zhongyan. When I recall my childhood, I engrave "壣嵝" in miniature. Hei knows that Hei will be able to master the sun, and how can he achieve this skill? It's sad that I have worked hard in the past, so I can talk about taking care of my husband's rights. Yun can' t write, and he died a day ago. This pen is truly unique, and the ink in the inkstone is full of tears.
Part of paper version of Fu Shan's "Crying Son's Poems"
27.5cm×24.3cm×21 Collection of Shanxi Provincial Museum
Appendix: Collection of some of Fu Shan’s works
Appendix: Collection of some of Fu Shan’s works
