Shi Shuqing said: "We have never produced such a high-ranking person in modern times, a person with learning, and a person with cultivation. The person he said was Yuan Shikai's cousin Zhang Boju, and many people may think that When Shi Shuqing said this, he was not overestimating a person, or he was patting himself on the back, after all, Zhang Boju's name is not very familiar to everyone. In fact, no, Zhang Boju is fully worthy of this praise.
Zhang Boju is a person who likes to collect, and he once said that he collected these things for "wealth" and "talent" for the second. However, it is such a person who actually loves money and talent in his heart, but most of the cultural relics he has hidden in his life have been given to the Palace Museum, some of which are his family collections, some of which he bought for thousands of dollars, and even in order to have written cultural relics, he scattered his family wealth, and finally donated nearly 100 billion worth of cultural relics to the country free of charge.
Zhang Boju is a person worth knowing, he was born on March 14, 1898, Henan, is the son of Zhang Jinfang, but in 1904, his father passed him on to his uncle Zhang Zhenfang, Zhang Zhenfang's family tutor is very strict, because he himself was once raised in a strict family, Zhang Boju as a family child, grew up in such an environment, there is no arrogance and arrogance of the children of the rich family, but the reading of books, gentle and elegant.
He went to private school at the age of 7, and at the age of 9, he could write poetry and was known as a "child prodigy". In 1916, when Zhang Boju was 18 years old, Zhang Zhenfang arranged a marriage for him, because his father asked him to marry Li Yue'e, and the two were actually very inappropriate, so Zhang Boju and his first wife had a bad relationship. Although the relationship between husband and wife is not harmonious, his achievements in literary culture are getting higher and higher.
He likes poetry, but also likes Peking Opera, in 1930 he and Mei Lanfang, Qi Rushan and other people organized the "National Opera Society", they studied Peking Opera together, but also learned Peking Opera, the Peking Opera master Yu Shuyan at that time also taught him to sing, because of good memory, people and smart, in just one year, he learned to sing. Not only that, he also has a heart of compassion and love for the people, in 1937, There was a drought in Henan, there was a great famine, he gathered his own drama friends to perform charity performances, to raise funds for Henan disaster relief.
However, the most obsessive thing in his life was the collection of calligraphy and paintings, but he not only loved these cultural relics, but also a cultural relics protector. When Zhang Boju was first in Hubei to relieve the disaster, he had the opportunity to see the "Ping Fu Ti", and he had always been worried in his heart, but at that time, the owner of the "Ping Fu Ti" was Pu Ru, the great-grandson of the Daoguang Emperor, so he did not ask any more questions.
In 1936, PuRu sold a painting of Han Gan's "White Picture of the Night" in his hand to others, and later flowed overseas. Zhang Boju was always unstable after learning about this matter, afraid that Puru would also sell the "Ping Fu Ti", so he first asked the glass factory to buy paintings for him, and then asked Zhang Daqian to buy them, but at that time, the price was 200,000, which was really unaffordable. Later, I heard that Pu Ru had lost her mother and was in urgent need of money, so after The mediation of Fu Yuan's uncle, he finally bought it with 40,000 yuan. Later, he mentioned this matter in his article, saying that he finally did not have to worry every day, but he had a wish.
Zhang Boju once said: "It is better to hand a fine product than to receive a number of ordinary products." In 1956, he donated more than 30 years of collection worth 113.6 billion yuan to the Palace Museum, which was voluntary, of course, without subsidies.
However, at that time, the government offered to give him 200,000 yuan as a reward, and he did not receive anything, saying: "These things do not have to remain in my hands, donate it, and the treasure will be preserved on our land forever." "There are not many collectors like Zhang Boju who are selfless and have a wide vision. His collections are all fine, priceless, and even many of them cannot be measured by vulgar prices, which are priceless treasures, but he does not hesitate to donate them to the country.
In his old age, Zhang Boju's four wives, one died early, and two left him, and finally only Pan Su accompanied him, in 1982, he had a serious illness, when their family was already very poor, his wife was distressed and old, and she was still suffering in the ordinary ward, so she asked for help him change to a single ward!" However, the doctor thought that zhang Boju's conditions were not worthy of being admitted to a high-level single ward, so he said to Pan Su: "Are you worthy?" ”
When Pan Su heard this sentence, his heart was so uncomfortable, after all, his husband was a meritorious person, and he could not bear to suffer so much, so he went to the Palace Museum, which was a reasonable arrangement. The birth of cultural relics may be a great moment, but the history of cultural relics collection has gone through hardships, and people like Zhang Boju are really indispensable.