Speaking of a generation of calligraphy and painting masters Qi Gong, I believe that as long as they are involved in calligraphy, people are very familiar with it. This was the ninth grandson of the Manchu Yongzheng Emperor, who had studied under Qi Baishi. Whether it is in the life deeds, or in the character and morality, or in the calligraphy is very worthy of people to learn.
Mr. Qi Gong's life is very legendary. Excluding his extremely far-reaching influence on contemporary calligraphy in our country, perhaps you do not know that a generation of calligraphy and painting masters Qi Gong has a person who cannot be forgotten, is his wife Zhang Baochen.
In 1932, at the age of 23, Zhang Baochen married Qi Gong. Zhang Baochen died in 1975. After that, Qi Gong did not remarry until his death in 2005.
If you insist on finding out the reason why Zhang Baochen is "unworthy" of Qi Gong, there are still many:
In terms of age, she is 2 years old;
In terms of appearance, she is not a beauty, not very tall;
On love, Qi Gong is obedient to widowhood and non-free love;
On the family lineage, her birth mother died early, and her stepmother was mean, not a rich and noble family;
On the "dowry", she married her brother with her;
On learning and common progress, the foundation is already different, and the gap can only be greater later;
On style, one custom and one elegance, one working woman, one intellectual elite;
She did not give birth to a man and a half a woman for him, and broke the royal bloodline of the three generations of Qi Gong...
However, the two have been married for 43 years, and they have been in love with each other and share happiness and hardship.
March 5, 1932, was the day of ancestor worship in the Qi Gong family. Qi Gong's ancestor was Yongzheng's son and Qianlong's younger brother. Although it was later included in the side branch, and almost all the glory and wealth were lost, the mother was still very much in awe of this special family lineage, and the annual ancestor worship was simply the mother's totem.
On this day, the mother specially called a girl surnamed Zhang to help, and asked Qi Gong to go to the hutong mouth to greet her. At that time, there was a gentle drizzle in the sky, and Qi Gong came to the mouth of the hutong and saw that on the opposite tree-lined path, a petite woman was walking with a flower umbrella. This "lilac-like girl" is Zhang Baochen, whose mother and aunt have been looking for him for a long time, who have been in love with him first, and who must also marry her.
At the time, 20-year-old Qi Gong was busy looking for a career. When I first saw Zhang Baochen, although I was in a trance like meeting a "lilac girl", it was just a flash of emotion; When I got closer, I didn't have the slightest heartbeat. However, the mother's attitude was very resolute: "Your father died early, and your mother guarded you very bitterly!" You are married early, there is someone around, I am also at ease. The filial piety qigong thought for a moment and then said to his mother, "Yes! Man, as long as mom looks satisfied. ”
In October 1932, the 20-year-old Qi Gong and zhang Baochen, who was two years older than him, held a simple wedding. This is a family affair arranged for him by his mother Kelian Zhen and aunt Heng Jihua for a long time. Qi Gong was filial and did not dare to disobey.
Although they are newly married, in fact, the two have only met a few times and have no feelings to speak of. However, Qi Gong gradually discovered that this ordinary-looking and uncultured wife was a rare confidant. Zhang Baochen looks dignified and virtuous, loves to wear a blue cloth shirt, the most rare thing is that she never loses her temper, industrious, kind, virtuous, with the traditional virtues of Chinese women. Just married, when the Qi Gong family lived in the Drum Tower, there were fraternities at home, and there were Cao Jiaqi, Ma Huanran, Xiong Qi, and Zhang Zhongxing. At that time, as soon as Qi Gong's home entered the door, it was a kang, the place was very small, and everyone sat on the kang and talked about it in the middle of the night. Qi Gong's wife stood in front of kang without saying a word, waiting for everyone to pour water with a pot, and never interjected.
Since Zhang Baochen passed through the door, Qi Gong had never bothered about family affairs again. Every morning, as soon as he opened his eyes, Qi Gong saw Zhang Baochen working endlessly. Qi Gong's mother and aunt were old and often sick, so they inevitably lost some temper, and no matter how wronged they were, she never said a word. Qi Gong sometimes encountered unpleasant things outside, and when he returned home, he also threw a tantrum at her, but every time his wife always did not speak, she could not quarrel if she wanted to.
Qi Gong gradually felt a little unbearable in his heart, and suddenly remembered what his mother had said about Zhang Baochen's life. Zhang Baochen's biological mother died early, and her stepmother was very mean to her, and she suffered a lot since she was a child, and she married her brother who was dependent on each other. When Qi Gong learned about her origins, a strong sense of sympathy gradually turned into love. Since then, Qi Gong has been studying and painting at home all day to make a living. When Qi Gong had painted the picture scroll on his back and was ready to go out to sell, he suddenly hesitated for a moment in front of the threshold, and the sympathetic Zhang Baochen immediately understood that it was the face of a literati, so he immediately took the calligraphy and painting that Qi Gong had installed and stepped out of the house, "From today onwards, you just have to paint, I will go to the street to sell." ”
In 1952, Qi Gong became an associate professor at Beijing Normal University. In 1956, her mother Kelian Zhen could not afford to fall ill for a long time, and her aunt Heng Jihua also fell ill. Her mother and aunt, who were seriously ill, relied on Zhang Baochen to take care of her alone. Zhang Baochen wrapped up all the heavy work and dirty work, the matter of carrying and urine. Until the moment of her mother's death, she took Zhang Baochen's hand and said, "I only have one son, no daughter, you are like my own daughter." After his mother's death, Qi Gong remembered in his sadness the day and night hard work of his wife serving the elderly, thinking that she understood the great righteousness, was considerate of herself, and became more and more grateful to Zhang Baochen.
In 1957, Qi Gong was inexplicably classified as a "rightist." Back at home, Zhang Baochen wondered, "How could they let you be this 'rightist'?" Qi Gong smiled bitterly and comforted her: "You think, isn't this obvious?" Our family is a feudal family, I received a feudal education, and it is not unjust to call me a 'rightist'. Qi Gong's humor in front of his wife still made it difficult to hide the pain in his heart. Zhang Baochen saw Qi Gong's pained look, so he hugged her husband tightly and cried: "The previous days of so hard work have survived, what else can we not be difficult?" If you have a good villain, what does it mean that I'm alive?" She advised Qi Gong, "Whoever criticizes you and scolds you, don't be afraid, Principal Chen knows that you are a good person, and I also know that you are a good person." She knows that Qi Gong loves to talk, so she often tells him her own experience, "There are some words that should not be said, you have to swallow down, swallow hard!" Qi Gong listened to his wife's simple words and untied the dead knot in his heart.
A few years later, Qi Gong was back on the podium. Significant academic achievements have been made. Just as he was making all-out academic sprints, the "Cultural Revolution" broke out, he was forced to leave the podium again, and all public reading and writing was forced to stop. After experiencing too many ups and downs, Qi Gong was surprisingly calm inside. He thought, "If I don't read and write in public, I'll study in private." ”
Since then, in order to let Qi Gong concentrate on writing articles at home, Zhang Baochen sat at the door every day to give him a look. As soon as she saw the Red Guards coming, she immediately coughed, and Qi Gong immediately hid the paper and pen. In order to prevent the Red Guards from raiding the house, the careful Zhang Baochen secretly wrapped Qi Gong's collection of books, calligraphy, paintings, and manuscripts layer by layer, bundled them in a jar, and dug a hole under the corner of the backyard and buried it deep in the ground.
In 1975, Zhang Baochen became ill after accumulating fatigue, and Zhang Baochen felt that his days were short. One day, after whispering with Qi Gong for a few moments, Qi Gong was shocked, and immediately hurried home, and as soon as he arrived at the backyard, he picked up the shovel and dug it in the corner of the wall according to Zhang Baochen. In the deep soil layer finally dug into a large vat, moved out to see, a total of 4 sacks, sacks and wrapped in layers of thick paper, a series of Qi Gong's early calligraphy and painting works, a collection of manuscripts, all of them are well preserved, from 1930 to 1960 Qi Gong works, there is no omission. Holding his own painstaking work, Qi Gong's heart trembled violently, and there was really a feeling of reunion after the disaster. He had no idea how much courage it would take for Zhang Baochen, a weak woman who didn't understand ink, to dare to take such a big risk to treasure his works! It is enough to have this confidant of Bao Chen in his lifetime.
In the last days of his life, Zhang Baochen said to Qi Gong: "After I die, you must find someone to take care of you." Qi Gong said, "Old and decaying, where will anyone follow me again?" A few months later, Zhang Baochen was still dead, and Qi Gong's grief was difficult to express. In front of his wife's grave, Qi Gong said, "You didn't have a good day with me, and I should have suffered more to be worthy of you." Saying, Qi Gong knelt on his knees and prostrated his head deeply to Zhang Baochen...
For more than 20 years after Zhang Baochen's death, Qi Gong has been immersed in endless mourning and unable to extricate himself. He had no children and no daughters, no one to complain about, and could only condense tears and longings into words, and let his heart tremble with the tip of the pen:
"Forty years of marriage, never noisy.
White-headed old couple, in love with each other like young.
Forty years of dependence, half poor and half sick.
Although two people, only one life.
My food is beautiful and refined, and your clothes are sewn and mended.
I have left money to buy books, and you are willing to suffer.
Today you die first, and it is good or bad.
Lest I die and upset you.
Dry Bones Eight Treasure Mountain, Lone Soul Theravada Lane.
You stay two more years, and we'll be buried together..."
It is really affectionate, and the words are tearful.
In 1979, the party organization of Beijing Normal University rehabilitated Qi Gong, announced that the "rightist" department was wrongly divided, and increased his salary by one level, but Qi Gong gave this benefit to those who needed it more. When the school asked him what his opinion was, Qi Gong sighed: "It doesn't matter to me whether you change or not." Two people who knew that I was classified as a 'rightist' and who were particularly upset about me were my mentor Chen Yuan and my wife. Now, these two people are gone..." Speaking of this, Qi Gong couldn't help but burst into tears. Who can say that there is no "eternal pain" in Qi Gong's heart all day long!
Qi Gong was childless and childless all his life, and since the death of his wife, he has lived a lonely and miserable life. Qi Gong donated more than 2 million yuan from the sale of calligraphy and paintings and manuscript fees to Beijing Normal University, while he lived in a simple and cramped house. Three meals a day is also a coarse tea and light rice, often a bowl of noodles, a plate of cucumber strips mixed with a little fried sauce is a meal. Even for birthdays, Qi Gong has always been very simple, often a few corn, chestnut nests and a plate of peanuts and rice he is very happy, these foods are Qi Gong's favorite.
Mr. Qi Gong's full name is Ai Xin Kyaw Lo Kai Kung. But in all his paintings, writings, articles, and letters, he never used the phrase "Ai Xin Kyora." Elder Qi said humorously: "My surname is Qi Ming Gong Zi Yuan Bai, I do not eat ancestral meals, I am not a 'disciple of the Eight Flags', and I rely on my own skills to make a living." ”
Qi Gong's greatest pain and regret is that Zhang Baochen spent her life with herself in poverty and hard work, and never had the opportunity to travel once. In his later years, someone invited him to visit the mountains and rivers many times, but Qi Gong refused. Seeing others with each other, Qi Gong will touch the scene and cry when he thinks of his deceased wife.
On June 30, 2005, Qi Gong died in Beijing at the age of 93. According to Mr. Qi Gong's last wishes, Qi Gong and his wife Zhang Baochen were buried together. Reliving their life from an arranged marriage with no choice to a mutually exclusive, let us understand a truth: not every love will be vigorous, the pursuit of youth is only because of youth, and only later found out that after going through the long river of life, it is the longest confession of affection to be frothy...