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He packaged the avoidance of workplace struggles as not trying to be a high-ranking official, Houlu, and dedicated himself to art;
He also improved his popularity by creating public opinion controversies;
Even while marketing others, it is even possible to market yourself by the way;
Who is he?
The red man of the art circle in the middle and late Ming Dynasty - Dong Qichang.
▲ Dong Qichang Ming Dynasty (1555-1636)
You must have heard this name, Dong Qichang's calligraphy and paintings, to this day have a large number of fans.
Dong Qichang did not force himself or fight his father, almost a male classmate without a story, but eventually became a big red man in the art circle in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.
There is no doubt about the efforts made in calligraphy and painting and artistic creation, but this brother has a more powerful hand - marketing hype.
Speaking of Dong Qichang's entry into the art circle, it was simply an accident:
Xiao Dong, who was born in the cold door, was only bent on reading when he was a child, and he wanted to take the meritorious name. If things go well, he may enter the DPRK as an official, fight steadily, and finally have power and power.
But who knows, fate made a joke with him at this time.
On the first exam, he didn't take the first place, for interesting reasons:
he! word! too! ugly! The examiner moved him from first to second.
For Dong Qichang, a self-confident bully, this is simply a great shame, and then he decided to shoot the case:
Where not to make up for where, the writing is not good, I practice!
He borrowed all the works of the masters, from Yan Zhenqing to Wang Xizhi, and copied them one by one. At the age of 22, he began to contact painting again, and he also copied the works of Huang Gongwang, Dong Yuan and other top cattle.
It was also at this time that Dong Qichang slowly came into contact with art.
▲ Dong Qichang Linyan Zhenqing "Many Pagoda Steles"
While practicing and taking the meritorious name, the 34-year-old Dong Qichang not only passed the entrance examination, but also became famous in Manjingcheng because of his wonderful calligraphy.
And it wasn't long before Dong Qichang began to serve as a teacher for the emperor's eldest son, Zhu Changluo, and his social status suddenly became very different.
However, at this time, compared with being an official, Dong Qichang has obviously gone astray, and he can't come back when he plunges into art.
At that time, in the Ming Dynasty, the commodity economy was developed, and the wind of collection prevailed. The capital is not only rich in atlases and cultural relics, but also full of talents. He began to get acquainted with a large number of collectors. As the most influential calligrapher and painter, and in a high position, Dong Qichang became an important figure in the art collection industry.
▲ Dong Qichang,"The Biography of Fang Yanggu"
An interesting thing happened at this time.
At that time, the Ming Dynasty was in the chaos of the "dispute over the foundation of the country", and for more than ten years, the party was in endless disputes within the imperial court over the appointment of a prince. As the prince's teacher, Dong Qichang actually retreated at this time and did not ask about the world.
He resigned from the imperial court. Soon, he was instructed to return to his hometown to "recuperate" on the pretext of editing books.
After resigning and returning to his hometown, the number of Dong Qichang's calligraphy and painting creations soared, and some scholars counted that in the last ten years of his life, Dong Qichang's creation reached a peak. Slowly, the fact that he resigned from his official post and returned home was rumored to be: Dong Qichang did not want to be a high-ranking official Houlu, and dedicated himself to art!
As a result, Dong Qichang's fame has become more and more famous.
Isn't that......... The earliest hype??
In any case, this great celebrity who pursued a free and open-minded life and abandoned his official position and returned to his hometown became a well-known calligrapher and painter. There is an endless stream of people who come to Visit Dong's house to seek ink.
Then, Brother Dong embarked on the road of "reselling calligraphy and paintings" to get rich.
At that time, calligraphy and painting were related to Dong Qichang, which were extremely expensive, and the "Biography of Ming Shi Wenyuan" recorded the grand situation of Dong Qichang's calligraphy and painting being sought after, "famous abroad, rulers and short zha, circulating in the world, competing for treasures." Therefore, after returning to his hometown, Dong Qichang, who only took a dry salary, had more and more family property.
His pen and ink are not only expensive, but also "extremely large". Why?
Because the business is too good, Dong Qichang will ask someone to write and paint.
His good friend Chen Jiru once gave a piece of paper to Shen Shichong, saying, "Send a piece of white paper, run pen silver three-star, bother to paint the landscape lobby, tomorrow is to be, do not have to pay, want Dong Silao to be famous also."
Why are people scrambling for Dong Qichang's calligraphy and paintings? Because at that time, his landscape paintings and calligraphy were really distinctive:
Just like the exhibition in the Forbidden City at the beginning of our chapter, furry, very cute, drawing a stroke is not like a large brushstroke of splashed ink, but like a serious sketch,
▲ Dong Qichang landscape painting
People have always said that he imitates the ancient law, shi chonghuang gongwang, in the atmospheric and old mountain high and wide composition, Dong Qichang's brushwork is indeed very peculiar, his calligraphy and painting have a kind of childlike fun, Dong Qichang is like a naïve baby:
▲ Dong Qichang imitates Yang Sheng's "Green Landscape Map"
And Dong Qichang's words, but also loved by people, looking at his cursive, there is always a feeling of being able to do it in one go.
Dong Qichang's pen is very smooth, and from the surface, the handwriting is light and heavy, there are virtual and real, and the whole layout even looks like a "sense of design".
It is said that in order to write such a word, he only used a kind of silky Goryeo paper, along his words, written in the air, it is estimated that he will feel physically and mentally comfortable, and have the miraculous effect of rejuvenating the muscles and blood.
▲ Dong Qichang,"Early Dynasty Poems"
Dong Qichang's great strength is here, what a shrewd person he is, but in his works, he has shaped himself into an artist who is more open-minded and open-minded.
This is where marketing is the most powerful!
The most surprising thing is that this big brother not only markets himself, but also markets himself by marketing others.
Dong Qichang is very clever, he realized that it is not enough for his calligraphy and painting to be famous, he wants to become a vane in the art world.
Why? Because he has a collection in his hands, and the number is said to be as many as five or six hundred.
So, how do you pick up these works on the red hand?
Create public opinion! Hype!
If you are familiar with ancient Chinese art, you must have heard of a division called "The Southern and Northern Sects Judgment". It is to divide landscape painting into two factions, the north and the south, and this thing is what Dong Qichang made.
He proposed this north-south division to promote certain paintings and painters that he liked.
Roughly speaking, those who like it are divided into the southern faction, and those who do not like it are assigned to the northern faction, so as to create public opinion guidance.
However, because the aesthetic standards of the southern and northern schools are very vague, basically according to Dong Qichang's own preferences, it is very confusing, to take a chestnut: from a general point of view, the southern school of partial literati paintings is relatively light and elegant, but because Dong Brother likes Fan Kuan, he also belongs to the southern school.
▲ Part of Fan Kuan's "Journey to the Creek and Mountains"
Because the aesthetic standards are vague, the Nanbei Sect thesis has not had a good impact on the history of painting, which is also a point that he has been controversial for many years.
In Dong Qichang's comments, he has rated many world firsts.
He said that the world's first landscape was Wang Meng's "Qingbian Hermitage Map";
It is also said that the "Xishan Travel Map" is also the first in the world;
outcome:
▲ Dong Qichang title Dong Yuan 《Han Lin Chongting Tu》
You see, Dong Yuan has become the first in the world again!
It looks funny. But then again, the so-called painting theory, the contribution is not completely absent, for example, he admired Wang Wei as the founder of the southern school, believed that he was the beginning of literati painting, and admired Wang Wei's landscape painting.
This is indisputable to this day.
After such a toss, Dong Qichang was much luckier than other artists, and he enjoyed his merits and fame before his death.
Today, if we follow the way Chinese have always evaluated artists, this person's "art morality" is estimated to be zero points, but "art" is sometimes so contradictory.
Isn't he contradictory himself? Contradictory, of course.
Throughout his life, from the cold door to the big official to the big artist, Dong Qichang jumped up and down, constantly realizing the ideal of a lonely and arrogant life.
However, in the last moments of his life, in the long scroll of the "Purple Eggplant Poem" written at the age of 82, there was such a sentence:
▲ Dong Qichang "Purple Tomato Poem"
It is about the life of eggplant blossoming and fruiting, "tired and greedy, low Yaqiao hiding". You see those three words", "greedy knot", written together, the words are evenly used, not free between the strokes, it is blurted out, it is very emotional.
Although the poem is about writing about the gesture of an eggplant, but here, a "greed", a "clever", is this about the eggplant or yourself?
It is estimated that at an age, among artists and marketers, Dong Qichang suddenly has a feeling of "the world is rushing to run against the trend, and the liver is afraid of the future".
Try your best to get it, and then look back at a chicken feather, this is not life.