The "college entrance examination" failed the list eight times, committed suicide nine times, killed his wife once, and was released from prison for seven years. This is a madman who has committed suicide nine times and has not died, but he has fascinated countless celebrities.
His name was Xu Wei.
Statue of Xu Wei: A crazy genius madman
Someone once used such a simple poem to tell his life: a bumpy life, the early death of his second brother, three marriages, helping around, five cars to learn to be rich, six relatives scattered, seven years in prison, eight tests not for sale, nine suicides, it is really a sigh.
How can just forty words be enough to describe a person's life? Perhaps, Heaven has never been fair to him.
In the Ming Dynasty, a dynasty rich in talents, Xu Wei surpassed most of the literati and inkers, and firmly ranked in the top three thrones. Whether it is poetry, painting and calligraphy, drama, or military, he is all exquisite. In any dynasty, Xu Wei was worthy of the word genius. However, his life was a whole tragedy.
Maybe even modern novels don't dare to write like this?
It is hard to imagine that the birth of such a prodigy as Xu Wei was actually the result of Xu Wei's father's adultery with "Xiao San". Less than three months after Xu Wei was born, his father died.
Because he was the child of "Little Three", Xu Wei was raised by his stepmother and lived a life under the fence at a very young age. Aside from his genius-like gift of learning, Xu Wei's childhood had almost no joy to speak of.
It is said that Xu Wei was able to remember at the age of six, and at the age of ten, he could write tens of thousands of words of long texts, and soon became a prodigy who became famous for a while.
Such a talented teenager, if placed in the present, it must be the object of key cultivation. Even in the Ming Dynasty, where the imperial examination was a scholar, it should be easy to obtain a meritorious name.
But Xu Wei just proved to us that learning is one aspect, and being able to test is another field of knowledge. In addition to being admitted to Xiucai at the age of 20, Xu Wei's eight exams in the 21 years after xu wei have all failed to make the list without exception.
At this time, Xu Wei was more than 40 years old. According to Old Master Kong, thirty stands, forty is not confused. At this age when he should have settled down and had a relatively rich and complete life, Xu Wei was still a poor egg.
At that time, his wife who was truly in love with him had long since died for many years, and the imperial examination that he had worked for half a lifetime had never landed, and the only boss who appreciated him and appointed him, Hu Zongxian, also committed suicide in prison. For Xu Wei, who is nearly half a hundred years old, love fails, academic failure, and career failure. Always achieve nothing but still live in the shadow of the old boss's case.
Perhaps death is the best way out.
Hu Zongxian, a famous general of the Anti-Wu Dynasty, And Xu Wei's Bole, was later implicated and imprisoned for the Yan Song case
Thus, Xu Wei began his long and painful suicide career. In fact, his suicide failure was not because he was not cruel enough to himself, or perhaps he really did not want him to die.
In those days, Xu Wei's neighbors could always see Xu Wei, who was covered in blood, appear in front of them: he first used an axe to split his head, until he heard the sound of the blade breaking the bone, the blood flowed all over his face, but he did not die; later, he put more than three inches of iron nails into his ears, and the blood spurted wildly, but still did not die; finally, he pierced his kidney sac with an awl, and after severe pain, Xu Wei still survived.
Successive suicide failures did not arouse Xu Weisheng's desire, but his spirit became more abnormal. Finally, the disaster once again found Xu Wei. At the age of 46, Xu Wei suffered from hysteria, killed his wife by mistake, and went to prison. Later, he was rescued by his fellow countrymen and friends, so that he was saved from death.
Xu Wei spent seven years in prison. Perhaps, this is the most stable time in Xu Wei's life.
Xu Wei's calligraphy in prison, "Self-written Poems"
In fact, after being released from prison, Xu Wei in his later years could have lived a richer life. But he was Xu Wei, the arrogant genius madman.
At that time, Xu Wei's literary fame was extremely prosperous, and many people wanted to make friends with him or ask him for a calligraphy and painting. However, Xu Wei did not like nobility, deliberately avoided dignitaries and dignitaries, and encountered people who hated and disliked, even if their status was high, they did not show any mercy.
As a result, Xu Wei remained poor until his death. He was found dead at home at the age of 73, accompanied only by a large yellow dog by the bed, not even a mat that could cover his body.
The ancients often said: Life is seventy years old. At Xu Wei's age, he is definitely a high lifespan. However, for Xu Wei, this day came too late.
Fortunately, Xu Wei, who was miserable before his death, enjoyed mourning and glory for hundreds of years after his death. His calligraphy was sought after by the world, his plays were sung in the streets and alleys, and his paintings were regarded as miracles by later generations of painters.
Zheng Banqiao and Qi Baishi both claimed to be a dog in front of Xu Wei's house, and Qi Baishi regretted that he had not been born three hundred years earlier and went to Xu Wei as a child who polished ink and paper.
Qing Dynasty painter Zheng Banqiao engraved the seal "Cows and horses walk under the Qingteng Gate"
But these, Xu Wei is destined to be invisible. Perhaps, from beginning to end, xu Wei wanted nothing more than a stable and ordinary life, but the heavens never cast a look at him.
Text | Ink flutter
Edit | Chang Gung