Wen Zhengming, formerly known as Bi (or ZuoBi), was originally written in Zhengming, and later changed to Zhengzhong. His ancestral home is Hengshan, so he is called Hengshan Resident, and is known as "Wenheng Mountain". Nanzhi was a native of Changzhou County, Suzhou Prefecture (present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu). Ming Dynasty painter, calligrapher, writer, and connoisseur. Wen Zhengming's poems, texts, books, and paintings are all exquisite, known as the "Four Absolutes", and he and Shen Zhou co-created the "Wu School".
Wen Zhengming was born into a family of official eunuchs, and his father, Wen Lin, was admitted to the Jinshi in the eighth year of Chenghua. At first, he was a ZhiXian of Yongjia County, and then transferred his work to become Zhixian of Boping County, and later promoted to become the Governor of Nanjing Taibu Temple and the Prefect of Wenzhou. Moreover, Wenlin was honest and loved the people, worked diligently, and finally died in office as the prefect of Wenzhou. Because of the breeze in his sleeves and the lack of money and beautiful funerals, the people under his rule collected money for him and first held a beautiful funeral for him, but his son Wen Zhengming did not accept gifts from others in the end. Wenzhou people love Dai Wenlin very much and specially built a "Golden Pavilion" for him.
Wen Zhengming was born in such a family, originally should have been born with a golden key, the stars grew up in the moon, and had a happy childhood. However, he could not speak until the age of eight, and became an "idiot" in the eyes of many people.
After Wen Zhengming was four years old, his father Wen Lin went to other places to become an official, and his father and son did not see each other for many years. Later, when he was six years old, his mother Qi Died, and Wen Zhengming was raised in his grandmother's house. It may be that he neglected to teach as a child, or it may be due to his personality, and he could not speak until he was eight years old. At that time, the eight-year-old should have read and studied, but he could not speak, and even people with good things began to call him an idiot. This situation did not change until he was eleven years old, because this year, Wen Zhengming was finally able to speak, so he had the opportunity to start reading.
In 1488, the 18-year-old Wen Zhengming took the township examination and won the Changzhou County student examination, but because the writing was too ugly during the year examination, he was placed as a third class by the examiner, so Xiucai was not admitted. After returning home, he began to study calligraphy and copy and learn.
The more you practice calligraphy, the better, but in the way of the examination, it was hit hard, participated in the township examination many times, and failed to return from the examination, not to mention the career path, not even the academic qualifications, it is more difficult to advance in the official field. He became an envoy to the Hanlin Academy, participated in the compilation of the Records of Emperor Wuzong and the Records of emperor Xian, and served as an attendant to the emperor. Although it was a leisurely position for some nobles, the official scene was not a joke, so after three or four years of entering the army, he resigned and went home.
When a calligrapher is an official, he is angry everywhere. After returning home from his resignation, he entertained himself at home with literature and ink, and did not ask about the world, but he was able to write poetry, literature, books, and paintings more and more purely. Even later, Wen's calligraphy spread as far as Japan. In his lifetime, Wen Zhengming established three rules of non-shoulds, that is, "clan domain, middle nobility, and foreign countries". Wen Zhengming's refusal to entertain foreigners should be due to the fact that at that time, the Wokou were rampant and often came from the sea to offend Daming. Nevertheless, his calligraphy and paintings spread overseas, most of japan, and calligraphy was even more popular. Around the time of the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, Wen Zhengming's calligraphy was widely spread in Japan.