The six major banks in China represent the strongest capital and strength in China's financial circles, and the Bank of Communications is one of the six major banks, which is one of the oldest banks in China and one of the banknote issuing banks in modern China. Nowadays, the Bank of Communications can be seen everywhere in big cities, and if you look closely, you will find that its four words are actually different, and many people may not believe it. The word Bank of Communications in use now is actually written by a big traitor, which has to start from its establishment. To say that the history of the Bank of China can be traced back to 1908, when the Qing Dynasty had not yet died, it was still the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu.
It was founded by Liang Shiyi, who was the general office of the Beiyang Bookstore at that time, who was also a remarkable figure in the Beiyang era, with the title of the living god of wealth, and was once called the ruler behind the throne by the New York Times, not only that, he was also a jinshi in 1894. Since 1903, Liang Shiyi has been used by Yuan Shikai, and the bank is what he is good at. So naturally it was handed over to him to do, the name has always been Chinese exquisite, which is also a matter of face. In order to look better, Liang Shiyi had to start from the calligraphy of the time, and finally he chose a person to write these four characters.
This person is Zheng Xiaoxu, who is also a very famous figure in the late Qing Dynasty, Zheng Xiaoxu was born in a family of scholars. He began to read at the age of four, and he could sit in the study all day and read non-stop, like an old monk who had entered the concentration. At the age of 17. Zheng Xiaoxu's father died of illness, so he returned to his hometown to study with his uncle. Although Zheng Shigong was not valued by the imperial court, this person was quite talented, and Zheng Xiaoxu learned a lot from him. Not only is his father's family full of people studying, but his mother is not from a low birth, so he has received a very good education from an early age.
In 1882, Zheng Xiaoxu was raised. He is the Xie Yuan of the Fujian Provincial Township Examination. Unlike Liang Shiyi, who was reused by Yuan Shikai, Zheng Xiaoxu was pleased by Li Hongzhang. At that time, Li Hongzhang's power had not yet been taken away, and as his own staff, he naturally had a lot of support for Zheng Xiaoxu, and he soon became a cabinet secretary. However, Zheng Xiaoxu was able to poetry and wine, and he could play with many literati and celebrities, and Shen Baozhen was also one of them, but later Shen Baozhen died of depression.
In the seventeenth year of Guangxu (1891), Zheng Xiaoxu crossed to Japan and became the clerk of the Qing Dynasty Embassy in Japan. He served as an official in Japan for several years, however, in the twentieth year of Guangxu (1894), the Sino-Japanese War broke out. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, Zheng Xiaoxu returned to China and went to Zhang Zhidong's subordinates, where he successively served as the Minister of Border Defense of Guangxi, the Envoy of Anhui, and Guangdong.
Speaking of which, he also participated in the Wu Wu Shu Reform Law and the Constitutional Movement, how could such a person become a traitor? In fact, it was only because of the loyalty and foolishness in his heart, in his heart, that he hoped for the restoration of the Qing Dynasty. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, it was quiet for a while, but Puyi's series of actions in the northeast gave him hope. A hope of being able to come back with the support of the Japanese, for which he was willing to do whatever it took.
In 1928, he went to Japan and began to plan some activities for Puyi's restoration. If a person has a persistent hope in his heart, he can be desperate, even if he wants to sacrifice something, which is worth it in their view. On the night of September 18, 1931, the 918 Incident broke out, and the Japanese army occupied Shenyang and the three northeastern provinces. Zheng Xiaoxu didn't care, he wouldn't fail to realize that this was a war of aggression, but his heart only had to be restored.
After the 9/18 incident, he was even drafting the founding declaration and national anthem of the puppet state of Manchukuo. What was the use of waiting for him to realize the intentions of the Japanese? Plotting with the tiger will eventually lose everything, Zheng Xiaoxu tasted all this, and Puyi said that the emperor was just a disguise, but a puppet. Zheng Xiaoxu realized at this time that the Qing Dynasty was less important to the Kwantung Army than he thought, and he began to resist, but died in 1938 shortly after the rebellion, and was said to have been poisoned.
In fact, putting aside the character problem, Zheng Xiaoxu is indeed a calligrapher, otherwise Liang Shiyi would not have asked him to write. He is best at calligraphy, learning the calligraphy of Ouyang Qing and Su Shi, and is also good at calligraphy and calligraphy, but he is better at writing without italics. Zheng Xiaoxu's characters are long and vigorous, simple and mao, and even in modern calligraphers, his characters are also a very personal character. For example, his disciples, in his later years, he accepted Yang Yiping as a disciple. From Yang Yiping's calligraphy, we can see his teacher's skills.
In addition to studying Ouyang Qing and Su Shi, his calligraphy also worked the Northern Wei stele, and in the category of xingshu, even the Zheng school was famous in the calligraphy circles of the Republic of China. Someone once commented on Zheng Xiaoxu's four characters of the Bank of Communications: The font structure is tightly refined and square, both solemn and elegant, but also dangerous and indulgent, neither standardized, but also strange and beautiful. When he first lived in Shanghai, he could say that it was a thousand words, even if the fee was high, many people could not ask for it. The four words of the Bank of Communications alone took a full 4,000 taels to obtain, which shows the high level of his calligraphy.