Famous poet, painter, calligrapher, opera, folklore, gourmet and historian during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. Together with Xie Jin and Yang Shen, he is known as the "Three Great Geniuses of the Ming Dynasty". Zheng Banqiao of the Qing Dynasty was very respectful of Xu Wenchang, and once carved a seal, calling himself "a lackey under the Qingteng gate".
Although Xu Wei was a peerless talent, he had a miserable life; he was almost the most difficult among the literati in ancient and modern times; he wrote his own poem: There is no end to the suffering in the world, and it is extremely bitter to go to the place of suffering.
"A bumpy life, the second brother died early, married three times, helped everywhere, learned five cars to get rich, six relatives were separated, seven years of wrongful imprisonment, eight trials were not sold, nine suicides, it is really sighing!" These 40 words summarize a person's life. Judging from these 40 words, this person is extremely bitter.
Opening Xu Wei's resume, it is simply amazing, he not only has extraordinary talent in literature, but also in calligraphy and painting, opera, military and many other aspects. It is reported that he was born in Shaoxing, the hometown of the reader, in the mainland Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and Xu Wei's name is known to women and children.
When he was a teenager, Xu Wei was known as a "prodigy", he was extremely intelligent, he read at the age of six, could write at the age of nine, rotted at the classics, and worked poetry. However, due to his family, he did not get the love of his parents, and his personality was depressed, coupled with his extraordinary talent, he had a proud and lonely personality. Although talented, he had a bad fate, and at the age of forty, he took eight exams and fell to Sun Shan. In order to make a living, he had to leave his hometown to teach a private school hukou, and his life was relatively bleak.
At that time, in the Zhejiang and Fujian generation, the Wokou invaded, and Xu Wei participated in many battles, frequently gave advice, was noticed by the noble Hu Zongxian, and was later recruited into the shogunate, served as a staff member, and entered the officialdom. However, due to his extreme personality, he has successively quarreled with Hu Zongxian, Li Chunfang and others, resulting in a dismal end, which makes people sigh. His later life was extremely miserable, he made a living selling paintings, had no family property, was an alcoholic, had serious mental problems, and died with only a loyal dog. It is more appropriate to describe Xu Wei's life in one sentence: I am only high in the sky, and ordinary people laugh at me for being too crazy.
After reviewing Xu Wei's life, let's enjoy the charm of his words! People may have mixed reviews of his life, but his artistic achievements are absolutely full of praise. He was played by fate, but what he showed was an unyielding and profound thinking, which reflected Xu Wei's unyielding spiritual strength in his poetry. It can be said that his literary works represent his character, which is so unique, extremely heroic and dashing.
Xu Wei's freehand paintings have reached the level of masters. In freehand painting, continuous innovation pushes ink painting to a higher level. Xu Wei's freehand paintings of flowers and birds are informal, vivid and vivid, and the brushwork is simple but more artistic. Among Xu Wei's paintings, there are some masterpieces: "Ink Grape Diagram", "Landscape Figures and Flowers and Birds", "Peony Banana Stone Diagram", and "Ink Flower". In terms of poetry, Xu Wei generally reveals his temperament in poetry. Xu Wei's poetry works mainly include "Sea Song", "Twenty-eight Days of Snow", "Inscribed Grape Poem" and so on.
From subject matter to style, Xu Wei's poems break the traditional beauty of harmony and form a unique artistic charm. In the poetry of the Ming Dynasty, there was a quasi-ancient trend, and Xu Wei was extremely dissatisfied with this and vigorously attacked it with words. He used poetry to express his emotions, his style was fresh and vulgar, and his emotions were genuine, and he was a leader in the poetry scene in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. His poetic style is similar to Li He, different from that of the Sheng Tang, Southern Dynasty, Song Dynasty, and Yuan dynasties, and many good sentences and outstanding works have had a great influence on the poetry of the middle and late Ming Dynasty.
Xu Wei believes that calligraphy is first, poetry is second, writing is third, and painting is fourth. He also likes to collect books, and it is said that there are more than 10,000 volumes.
In 1593, Xu Wei walked home from the stall selling paintings for the last time, and from his stumbling footsteps, crushed by the world, there was no trace of his former demeanor.
Soon, Wei finally completed his life at the age of 73, and when he died, he was accompanied by only a dog, and there was not even a mat on the bed.
The misery, ups and downs, loneliness, and desolation of Xu Wei's life can be summarized by one of his own "Inscribed Grape Poems":
Half a life has become a man,
Independent books whistling evening breeze.
The pearl at the bottom of the pen is nowhere to sell,
Idle tossing wild vines.