He was in love with his students, but his wife fell into the arms of others. He is Xu Beihong.
"Wufeng Hall" is the name of Xu Beihong and Jiang Biwei's mansion in Fuhougang, Nanjing. Xu Beihong first named this mansion "Dangerous Nest", because at that time, the country was in trouble, wars were frequent, and the people were not living well, and named it "Dangerous Nest", that is, thinking of danger in peacetime, hoping for the peace of the country, Thailand and the people. But this word "danger" also implicitly coincided with the tragedy of his marriage with Jiang Biwei. "Wufeng Hall" is the name given by Xu Beihong after the maple seedlings sent by Xu Beihong's female student Sun Duoci were destroyed by Jiang Biwei.
In 1928, Xu Beihong was hired as a professor at Central University, and his family moved from Shanghai to Nanjing, first living in Shi Po Po Lane, and later moving to the dormitory of Central University. Both of these places were crowded, which was not conducive to Xu Beihong's creation, and he needed a mansion with a large studio. With the financial support of Kuomintang elder Wu Zhihui and others, the mansion was built in 1932. The mansion is two-story, Western-style, complete halls, the courtyard is dotted with flowers and trees, the interior decoration is elegant, and Xu Beihong's studio is even more magnificent. Xu Beihong is a great painter, honest, straightforward, maverick, insisting that "people must not be proud, but they must not be arrogant." "Do not create for fame and money, do not create for sycophancy." of the principles of doing things. On the wall of the living room of his mansion is a couplet: "Unique prejudice, obstinate behavior." "It also shows his unique personality. And Jiang Biwei was not used to this, and was very annoyed by Xu Beihong's temper and practice. Jiang Biwei was also not happy with Xu Beihong's naming of the mansion "Dangerous Nest", because the name was unlucky in Jiang Biwei's opinion.
Xu Beihong was born in poverty, and has always maintained simple living habits since then, with low requirements for food and clothing, and does not like luxury and entertainment, but he loves art, regards art as life, and spends no amount of money and time on art. Jiang Biwei is just the opposite of him, she comes from a famous family, naturally beautiful, romantic and amorous, dressed gorgeously, pays attention to pomp, likes to be sociable and lively, she often has salons, parties and family balls or banquets at home, which she learned from the French. There is a huge contrast in the attitude of life between the two, and there is no tolerance, tolerance and communication, and the emotional crisis begins to occur.
Xu Beihong has a female student in Central University, named Sun Duoci, also known as Sun Yunjun, very artistically talented, solid skills, extremely high understanding, dignified and beautiful, she admires Xu Beihong's great name, and under his mentorship, Xu Beihong also appreciates Sun Duoci very much and is determined to train her to become a talent. The relationship between teachers and students is very good. In the autumn of 1932, when Jiang Biwei returned to her hometown and province, she received a letter from Xu Beihong, urging her to return to Nanjing quickly, otherwise, he might fall in love with someone else. The person Xu Beihong was talking about was Sun Duoci. Jiang Biwei did not fully believe it when she received the letter, and when she returned home, Xu Beihong told her frankly. Jiang Biwei was very shocked after hearing this, naturally he could not tolerate it, and began to make a big noise, and some tabloids in Nanjing also hyped up the wind and made a lot of noise in the city. Xu Beihong repeatedly explained to her, saying that he did not betray her and empathize, he just appreciated Sun Duoci's talent, and nothing happened between them. Despite this, the shadow cast, Jiang Biwei could not tolerate it, and the resentment was difficult to contain.
When their mansion was completed, Sun Duoci sent a hundred maple seedlings as a student to decorate the new home and express the friendship between teachers and students, which was originally a normal thing, but when Jiang Biwei found out, he was so angry that people broke all the maple seedlings. Xu Beihong was very sad when he saw this scene, so he called the mansion "Wufengtang", called his studio "Wufengtang Studio", and engraved a "Wufengtang" seal as a memorial. This mansion, which is called both "Dangerous Nest" and "Wufeng Hall", left Xu Beihong and Jiang Biwei with almost irreparable pain. Later, Jiang Biwei saw two paintings by Xu Beihong in the studio of Central University, which were painted by Sun Duoci, and immediately let people take them down and hide them.
In order to ease the tension between the two, Xu Beihong took Jiang Biwei with him on the occasion of touring European exhibitions of famous Chinese paintings. The exhibition was a great success, but the relationship between the two did not improve much, and the conflict intensified. On the eve of Sun Duoci's graduation, Jiang Biwei heard that Xu Beihong was selling paintings to raise funds for Sun Duoci to study abroad, ran to the school to scold Sun Duoci, and went to Wu Zhihui and others to prevent Sun Duoci from studying abroad. Sun Duoci left Nanjing in humiliation, and Xu Beihong was also very embarrassed.
Later, Xu Beihong tried to reconcile with Jiang Biwei many times, and even begged her, but Jiang Biwei had already fallen in love with Zhang Daofan, the head of propaganda of the Kuomintang, and there was no possibility of reconciliation. In 1945, under the testimony of barrister Shen Junru, the two agreed to divorce, ending their 28-year relationship.
Zhang Daofan is a friend of Xu Beihong, met Jiang Biwei in Paris in 1922, and fell for it, he repeatedly showed love to Jiang Biwei, but was politely refused, because Jiang Biwei at that time wanted to be a good wife, and had no other ideas, she once wrote in her memoirs: "Bei Hong's heart of love for good art drove away the happiness and joy we deserved, but I still made up my mind to be a good wife, because I found that what he lacked was my strength." "After living together, I got to know Bei Hongcai deeply, and I found that his marriage partner should be art and not me... I wandered with him at the age of eighteen, and for more than 20 years, not only did I not receive any care from him, but I suffered endless pain and misfortune. When there was a rift in her relationship with Xu Beihong, her emotional balance began to tilt in Zhang Daofan. In 1948, Jiang Biwei went to Taiwan with Zhang Daofan and became Zhang Daofan's public lover for ten years, broke up in 1958, and then stayed alone for 20 years, and died in 1978.
Later, Liao Jingwen bravely entered Xu Beihong's emotional and life world, and the two were close to each other and had a strong relationship. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, and Xu Beihong died in 1953 due to accumulated work and illness. After Xu Beihong's death, Liao Jingwen collected and sorted out all of Xu Beihong's posthumous works and donated them to the country, and served as the director of the Xu Beihong Memorial Museum. When Xu Beihong died, Liao Jingwen was only thirty years old, but she never remarried, she said: "If there is an afterlife, I still hope to marry Xu Beihong again." I hope that after I die, I can meet Beihong in the 'Underground Yellow Spring'. When I see him again, I lean on his chest and tell him how I have spent all these decades and how I miss him. I'm going to tell him all my pain. ”
Sun Duoci married Xu Shaodi, then director of the Zhejiang Department of Education. In 1948, he went to Taiwan and taught at the Art Department of Taiwan Normal University. Xu Beihong and her were separated from each other, and occasionally exchanged letters. Xu Beihong sent a poem to Sun Duoci: "The fierce rain and the wind can't help it, let the boat abandon the pavilion." Peeling lotus recognizes the bitterness of the center, and sinks into the bitterness alone. Sun Duoci presented a poem to Xu Beihong: "The extreme eyes are lonely and far away, and they go to the small building without words." The cold river sinks into the sunset, and the yellow leaves fall in late autumn. The wind is strong to prevent invasion, and the clouds are chaotic. I don't know that outside the heaven and earth, there are a few people who are worried. "Bitterness, resentment, helplessness overflowed. When Sun Duoci learned of Xu Beihong's death, he was overwhelmed with grief and kept filial piety for his mentor for three years. Her relationship with Xu Shaodi is general, and she often goes to the United States on the occasion of her death, staying in the house of her friend Wu Jianxiong, a famous female physicist. She also often went to the home of Xu Beihong's friend Wang Shaoling, and every time she saw the poems and paintings left by Xu Beihong there, she burst into tears and muttered. She died in Los Angeles in 1975.
It should be said that the husband and wife relationship between Xu Beihong and Jiang Biwei has a relatively deep foundation. Both are from Yixing, Jiangsu, Jiang Biwei is from a noble background, and his father is a professor at Fudan University. Although Xu Beihong came from a humble background, he has excellent character, grace and talent. Jiang Biwei fell in love with Xu Beihong, regardless of his existing marriage and the fact that Xu Beihong had lost his wife, and resolutely eloped with Xu Beihong. On the ship to Japan, Xu Beihong put the crystal ring engraved with the word "Biwei" on her hand affectionately, and since then her original name "Jiang Tangzhen" has become "Jiang Biwei". This year, Xu Beihong was 24 years old and Jiang Biwei was 18 years old. Later, they went to Paris, France, for a lifetime of unforgettable days, and returned to China in 1927, by which time Xu Beihong was already a famous painter.
If the aspirations are different, the way is not compatible. Xu Beihong and Jiang Biwei's interests, hobbies and living habits are at odds, and neither can get what they deserve from the other, which inevitably requires finding new satisfaction. Xu Beihong and Sun Duoci are both talented and love painting art, that is to say, they are isomorphic in terms of interests, intelligence, hobbies, pursuits, and even hearts, so when he and Jiang Biwei disagree and conflict, they find emotional support and new objects to pour out their hearts. Jiang Biwei is the same, Zhang Daofan seems to inevitably enter her emotional world. Evocatively, when Xu Beihong died, he had a pocket watch in his pocket that he bought with Jiang Biwei in Paris; When Jiang Biwei died, there was "Piano Lesson" hanging in the room, which was the scene of Xu Beihong playing the violin for her in Paris, which was Jiang Biwei's favorite painting.
Xu Beihong and Jiang Biwei, as well as the stories of grievances and grievances and sorrows and joys between others, are mournful and poignant, seemingly reasonable, and outside of reason, subtle and unpredictable, right and wrong, and the reasons for the breakdown of marriage are also complex, but one thing may be certain, that is, there is a lack of understanding, harmony and tolerance, and there are many misunderstandings, complaints and accusations.