Xu Wei (1521-1593) There are many artists who pretend to be crazy in ancient China, but they are really crazy like Van Gogh in the Netherlands. They are lonely when they are born, and there are not many people who worship and worship for future generations after death—Xu Wei is such a "poor" Characters.
Xu Wei was born in Wenqing at the beginning of the word and Chang with a changed character. He was named Tianchi Shanren, Qingtengjushi, or Shutian Shuiyue, from Shanyin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province). Talented and intelligent, he was admitted as a scholar of Shanyin at the age of twenty. However, he lost his name to Sunshan even after eight times in the township examination. When he was young, he was also full of enterprising spirit of active use of the world. He was "conceited, talented, curious, and talked about the military". He worked diligently in the pursuit of the ideal of governing the country and the world. He was once favored by Hu Zongxian, the right minister of the Ministry of War and the capital of Yushi Hu Zongxian. In the 37th year of Jiajing (1558), he was recruited to serve as a staff member of the governor-general of Zhejiang and Fujian. Xu Wei had many plans for military, political and economic affairs at that time, and participated in the struggle against Japanese in the southeast coast. In his poems, he enthusiastically praised the heroes who resisted the Japanese patriotism. He once contributed to Hu Zongxian's "Presenting the White Deer", which was greatly appreciated by Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty. I thought he could display his ambitions, but then Hu Zongxian was impeached as a member of Yan Song’s party, and he was arrested and committed suicide. Xu Wei was deeply irritated. He was crazy, mentally disordered, and deliberately committed suicide. He actually committed suicide nine times. The axe smashed the head, "the blood flowed on the face, the skull was folded, and there was a sound of rubbing", and "the sharp cone was put into the ears, deep into the ears, and I couldn't die." He also suspected that his successor, Zhang, was infidelity, and actually killed Zhang, and was imprisoned for seven years. Later, his friend Zhang Yuanyu (written by Ming Hanlin Xiu) was rescued from prison. After being released from prison, he was 53 years old. Only then did he really put aside his official career, traveled around, began to write books, write poems and paint. In his later years, he was even more desperate and impoverished. He often "endures hunger and wanders alone under the moon", Dumen thanked the guests, but only when Zhang Yuanbian died, he went to the Zhang family to mourn, and he could hardly go out. In the end, he ended up in the situation of "a few swaying houses, a southern accent." For a lifetime. Before he died, there was only a dog with him, and there was not even a mat on the bed, so miserable. The fate of the troubles aroused his depression, coupled with his natural unruly artistic qualities, "wandering and sloppy, unwilling to landscape", letting out his inner emotions, a life of tragedy created a strange man of art.
Xu Weiping has a wild life and is not charming to power. Officials come to ask for paintings, and even a single word is hard to come by. When Shifan came to ask for paintings, when Xu Wei's economy was in short supply, if anyone who came to ask for paintings voted for gold and silk, they would get it in no time. If there is no shortage of money in his pocket, no matter how much you give, it will be a rare picture. He is really a man of temperament.
Xu Wei's freehand flowers shocked the world. They were wild with pens, dripping with pen and ink, and they were unconventional. They formed a family of their own, creating a new style of freehand ink painting. Together with Chen Daofu, they called "green vines and white sun". They have a great influence on later generations and have always been praised by the world. Of course, his talent is still reflected in the creation of operas. His Zaju "Four Tones of Apes" has been praised by Tang Xianzu and others, and it also holds a place in the history of opera. His poems, writings and paintings are filled with a sense of unrest and boundlessness.
The contrast between Xu Wei's calligraphy and the dull early Ming Dynasty calligraphy scene is particularly prominent. After Xu Wei was in Zhu Yunming, his way of studying books like Zhu Yunming was without exception belonged to the two kings. He admired Wang Xizhi’s character and calligraphy. As a fellow villager, he followed Wang Xizhi’s ethics, but he gave it to him. The most influential people are from the Song Dynasty, and Mi Fu is the one who chooses the most. In the postscript of "Shu Minangong Ink Spot (书米南宫墨迹)", he said excitedly: "Reading Minangong books is a lot of great, unrestrained and easy to read, without having to read this post. It's a novelty, and Huali sees it alone." There is no extensive study. , Will not make a precise comment of "easy and easy", which shows his profound understanding of Mi Fu. Xu Wei is best at majestic and wild grass, but it is difficult for ordinary people to accept. His pen and ink is arbitrary and full of messy paper. He is extremely conceited in his calligraphy. He himself thinks that "my book is number one, poem two, essay three, painting four". He once said in "Ti Zi Shu Yizhi Tang Tie": "High books are not in the eyes of the vulgar, and those who are in the eyes of the vulgar are not high books. However, this statement can also be said to those who know, and it is difficult to say to the layman." This is no wonder. How many "knowers" are there?
Twenty years after Xu Wei's death, Yuan Hongdao, the leader of the "Public Security School", turned to a poem by his friend Tao Wangling, "Evil Maoshu, bituminous blackened black, slightly shaped in characters". But after reading a few articles under the light, I couldn't help but screamed and asked if this person is today? Or the ancients? He pulled Tao Wangling up and read it all night together, "reading repetition call, called repetition", so that the boy servant was awakened. Later, Yuan Hongdao spared no effort to search for Xu Wei’s manuscripts, study Xu Wei, and vigorously promote Xu Wei. He believed that Xu Wei’s poems and essays "swept away the filth of modern times", and that Xu Wei's calligraphy "is as bold as his poems. Wen Zhengming is above"; and again, "Regardless of calligraphy and calligraphy, the sage of the eight methods of honesty, the knight of the word Lin" ("Shu Lin Zao Jian (书林藻鉴)"). Yuan Hongdao also wrote the biography of a famous person in the history of ancient Chinese literature-"The Long Biography of Xu Wen (徐文长传)". It can be said that he was Xu Wei’s first confidant, and his followers were countless. Among them were Zhu Da from Badashan, Zheng Banqiao, who was “going under the vine gate”, etc. The modern art master Qi Baishi once mentioned Xu Wei. Said: "Hate not to be born three hundred years ago, grinding ink and paper for Qingteng." This is enough to show that Xu Wei has a profound influence on future generations.
Xu Wei's loneliness can really be summed up by his own poem "Inscription on the Grapes (题墨葡萄诗)":
半生落魄已成翁，
独立书斋啸晚风。
笔底明珠无处卖，
闲抛闲掷野藤中。
