Zodiac Week
March 9, 1585-April 20, 1646
Zi Youxuan, a native of Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, whose ancestral home is Putian, was a scholar, calligrapher, painter, writer, and national hero of the late Ming Dynasty. Captured due to the failure of the anti-Qing resistance, the heroic martyrdom, The Longwu Emperor gave him the title of "Loyal Martyr" and posthumously presented it to Wenming bo. Qing Qianlong posthumously praised "Zhongduan".
Chinese New Year's Eve night, let's enjoy the Zodiac Zhou Xingshu "From Xiku To the Invitation Room to Meet the Chinese New Year's Eve", which is a collection of ten five-character poems, ming chongzhen thirteen years (1640) Chinese New Year's Eve night, anti-Qing hero book in Beijing. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, five pieces of woodcut boards, each 23 cm square, were collected by the Zhangpu County Museum in Fujian Province.
Zodiac Zhou is regarded as one of the most creative calligraphers in the Ming Dynasty, the most creative is the calligraphy and cursive writing, the pen turn is strong and powerful, the body is neat, and the style of writing is strong and unrestrained. With strength and posture, it is the main tone of the cursive script of the zodiac.
Zodiac Zhou's calligraphy, the characters are like its people, always maintain an upward posture, the upper right horizontal winding, so that the dot painting becomes spongy and dense, although slightly habitual, but strange and strong, forming its own unique formal language, especially showing its personality of the person who is upright and upright.
From the Zodiac Zhou Shu theory, it is reflected that he is more devoted to Wei and Jin calligraphy, especially for Zhong Xuan, Suo Jing and other calligraphy with a simple style of calligraphy, but not for its contemporary calligraphy, such as Dong Qichang's calligraphy.
In the eleventh year of Chongzhen, because of the accusation that the chancellor Yang Sichang and others had privately discussed peace, in early July, the Fifth Chongzhen Emperor held a pre-imperial meeting on the platform, asking Yang Sichang and Zodiac Zhou to debate on the spot. Chongzhen rebuked, "A lifetime of learning can only be done with one mouth!" Zodiac Zhou argued loudly: "The word Zhongyou, the minister does not dare not argue." If a subject speaks out before the King's Father, is it not loyal to the One who speaks before the King's Father? He slammed into the emperor: "If loyalty is not divided, then evil and righteousness are confused, so how can they be ruled!" After this famous debate, Zodiac Zhou was demoted to six consecutive levels and transferred to Jiangxi.
In the thirteenth year of Chongzhen (1640), Xie Xuelong, the governor of Jiangxi, recommended the Zodiac Zhou to the imperial court on the grounds of "loyalty and filial piety". Xie Xuelong said, "I am the Patriarch of the Ming Daoist Sect, and I can serve as a tutor(s) minister." When Chongzhen heard this, he ordered the arrest of the two and imprisonment, and they were severely punished for the crime of "pseudo-learning and deception of the world". Due to the strong advice of several ministers, it was changed to eighty court staff, and it was forever filled with troops in Guangxi. After that, he has been trying his best to resist the Qing.
On April 20, 1946, before his execution, he washed and changed his clothes, obtained paper and ink, painted a long pine strange stone to give to people, and left a last word to his family: "Ren ren does not die, and he is dangerous; there is a fall from the sky, and he will not give up his life." On the day of righteousness, his old servant wept bitterly, and Dao Zhou comforted him: "I died for justice, for the end of the examination. "It is a punishment of calmness." Zodiac Zhou is awe-inspiring because of the anti-Qing death festival! On the Donghua Gate Execution Ground, to the south, Dao zhou tore his clothes, bit his fingers, and left a blood book to his family: "Gang Chang is eternal, festivals and righteousness are thousands of autumns; the heavens and the earth know me, and the family is worry-free." ”
Before the execution, zodiac zhou shouted: "Is there any zodiac zhou in the world that is afraid of death?" In the end, his head was broken and he was "Wu Li Is Not a Servant", and after his death, people found seven big characters of "Daming Orphan Emperor Zodiac Week" from his clothes. His protégés Cai Chunrong, Lai Jijin, Zhao Shichao and Mao Yujie were killed on the same day, and they were known as the "Four Gentlemen of the Yellow Gate".
The obituary spread to Fujian, and Emperor Longwu "mourned the strike of the dynasty", specially gave the title of "Loyal Martyr", gave wenming Bo, and ordered the "Min Zhong" Temple to be erected in Fuzhou for the Zodiac Zhou, and the "Zhongxing Dagong" Workshop; in Zhangpu, the "Baozhong" Temple was set up, and the "Zhongxing Xingfu" Temple was set up, and the Spring and Autumn Festival was laid.
A hundred years after the martyrdom of the Zodiac Zhou, the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty posthumously honored the Zodiac Zhou Zhongjie and posthumously honored "Zhongduan".