Text/Tang Figurines
When it comes to Tang Bohu, the talented son of the Ming Dynasty, the first thing that comes to people's minds is his "shining" "title": the famous painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming Dynasty, who is called "Wumen Sijia" together with Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, and Qiu Ying in painting, also known as "Ming Sijia", and in poetry, he is called "Wuzhong Sicaizi" with Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhengming, and Xu Zhenqing.
He even composed music, and his compositions were very folk songs.
The legend of "Tang Bohu dotting autumn incense" is even more popular, and the love story of him and Qiu Xiang has made many talented people envious and jealous.
However, behind his glamorous coat, he was disappointed in the field, frustrated in the official field, long-term selling paintings for a living, and a poor and miserable life.
01
According to historical materials such as the "History of Ming", "Jiangnan Tongzhi", "Wu Zhong's Ancient Truth", and "Testament", Tang Bohu was arrogant and high-profile, and it was precisely this that destroyed him and caused him to fall down all his life.
This personality of his may be innate, although his father Tang Guangde is only a tavern owner, judging from his origin, he does not have a crazy and high-profile capital.
However, he has many ancestors who have a hand, such as the former Lianglingjiang general Tang Hui (the ancestor), which is why his calligraphy and painting titles often use "Jinchang Tangyin" (Tang Hui is a former Liangjinchang County).
Compared with Tang Hui, his ancestor Tang Jian seemed to be able to make his face shine more, this famous minister of the Tang Dynasty who had joined Li Yuan's army, worshiped the Libu Shangshu, and had been named "Duke of Juguo", one of the twenty-four meritorious servants of LingYange, was a cattle man who had been granted a special exemption from capital crimes by Tang Taizong.
And Tang Jian's father, Tang Jian of the Sui Dynasty, was tang Jian of the Sui Dynasty, and Tang Jian's grandfather was the northern Qi Shangshu Zuo servant Tang Yong.
Tang Jie, a descendant of Tang Jian, served as a royal attendant during the Song Dynasty,during the reign of Emperor Yu, and Tang Jie's descendant Tang Tai died in the "Tumu Fort Change", when his position was the head of the military department.
Tang Tai's descendants are scattered in Wu County, Suzhou, so Tang Bohu is considered a Suzhou native.
Tang Bohu is crazy and high-profile, and it is not unrelated to his innate talent, this poetry and painting have a few brushes of the boy, as early as the twenty-first year of Chenghua (1485 AD) won the first place in the Suzhou Provincial Examination, becoming a suzhou prefectural school attached student, "the four seas are surprised to be called" (Zhu Yunming).
From then on, his frenzied, high-profile, and wandering personality could not be hidden, and later, he actually sang with his friend Zhang Ling at night in the Qinglou during the ten years of Hongzhi's ten-year enrollment examination.
During the exam, I came to the Qinglou chaotically, and I waited for a good time!
Someone reported that He had studied Yushi Fangzhi, but Mr. Fang was a righteous gentleman, and he, who deeply resented this kind of behavior, brushed Tang Bohu down with a big stroke of his pen.
Tang Dacai's name was Luosun Mountain, which was unscientific.
His fall on the list surprised many people, including Cao Feng, the prefect of Suzhou.
Cao Feng, who loves talent and cherishes talent, believes that a great talent, drinking some flower wine, is just a harmless sub-section, hoping that he will not become a victim of these "sub-sections", otherwise it will be a pity.
Alarmed by Tang Bohu's fall from the list, there was also Wen Lin, the father of the famous Suzhou scholar Wen Zhengming, as well as Shen Zhou, Wu Kuan and others, who interceded for him one after another.
Wen-ming Image
Fang Zhi could not withstand the strong pressure and had to agree to Tang Bohu's "make-up examination" the following year.
Fortunately, the main examiner of the township examination the next year was called Liang Chu, who happened to be a fan of Tang Bohu.
This time, Tang Bohu took the first place again.
02
As early as the last time he took the first place, his friends advised Tang Bohu to "change from evil to righteousness", because after the middle move, he was even more "inseparable" from the wind and moon place.
His friend Zhu Yunming really can't look at it, doesn't want this good friend to be finished, and bitterly advises him that the road of life is still very long, a moment of pride, don't be too arrogant, a horse is not a thousand-mile horse, not to see its surface, the key is to look at its essence.
Zhu Yunming hopes that he will restrain a little and keep a low profile.
Zhu Yunming wrote to him again, saying that my father once said to me that although Tang Yin (Tang Bohu) is a very talented boy, he is frivolous, and in the end he is afraid that he will not achieve anything, so I don't want to learn from him.
This is a clearer reminder to him: If you don't change your mind and continue like this, you are finished!
Tang Bohu took his friend's kind advice as a bullet fired at him, and immediately returned a more powerful one: I was born with this virtue, and if you don't like it, don't be friends with me!
The arrogance of the attitude and the harshness of the words, even the best friends can not stand it.
One guy like that is so headache, what about two guys like this coming together?
The other was called Xu Jing, Xu Xiake's gaozu, who was three years younger than Tang Bohu and was also a talented man.
As early as 1495, Xu Jing was selected to raise people, although he was three years earlier than Tang Bohu, but the two of them met in the same year (1499, this year is the year of Dabi), and they agreed to go to Beijing on the same ship to participate in the examination.
Tang Bohu is a native of Suzhou, and Xu Jing, a native of Jiangyin, likes to make friends with celebrities and become friends with the former.
Compared with Tang Bohu, a "poor man," Xu Jing is simply a local tycoon, and the collection of books in the family library alone is innumerable, and it is a veritable "ten thousand-volume building."
Influenced by his grandfather and father, Xu Jing loved to read since he was a child, and did nothing but shut himself in the "Ten Thousand Scrolls Building" all day long.
This time to Beijing to catch the examination, the same crazy, high-profile Xu Jing, only Youtong ("Youtong" has two meanings, one refers to a beautiful boy, and the other refers to a boy who sells art, that is, a young Youling) brought several people.
As a local tycoon, Xu Jing naturally brought a lot of money, and it was not good to have a dashing time in the capital, sorry for the heavens, sorry for the ground, and even more sorry for himself.
Therefore, as soon as the two arrived in the capital, they dressed in fresh clothes and angry horses all day long, flaunting the market, what to eat, what to play and what to play.
Long before this, Tang Bohu was "very famous in literature" and also in the capital, and the dignitaries and nobles in the capital heard that he was coming, and suddenly they were like flies, and they came to their residences to visit him and invite them to be guests.
It is impossible to be so arrogant and high-profile without causing other people to talk and be jealous.
Especially other students who rushed to take the exam, their psychology was very unbalanced - we are all readers, why are you redder than us?
03
The chief examiner of that year was Cheng Minzheng, who was known as a child prodigy.
Toshisei Image
According to the "History of Ming", Cheng Minzheng was the son of Cheng Xin, the shangshu of the Nanjing Bingbu, and at the age of ten, he traveled with his father to Sichuan, and Inspector Luo Qi recommended him as a prodigy to the emperor, and Ming Yingzong summoned the test, and sure enough, he was very "god", and he was very happy, and he was called to study at the Hanlin Academy, and the living expenses were covered by the state.
The bachelors Li Xian and Peng Shixian especially liked him, and Li Xian married his daughter to him.
In the second year of Chenghua, Cheng Minzheng entered the priesthood and the first, taught editing, and became the teacher of the prince.
At that time, there was an "authoritative saying", saying that among the Hanlin, the scholar was called Cheng Minzheng, the article Wasiya called Li Dongyang, and the sexual behavior was called Chen Yin, and the three of them were each the crown of the moment.
All people with good learning want to show their good learning, which is simply a common disease of such people, and Cheng Minzheng is no exception.
Li Dongyang is also a scholar, and as soon as the two discussed, they came up with a very cold exam question.
Most of the test takers answered poorly, with the exception of the two exam papers, which not only answered well, but also wrote very elegantly.
Those two examination papers made Cheng Minzheng miserable--he was also a person who loved talent.
This person who loves talent should never say to Li Dongyang, Old Li, I bet a dime with you, these two examination papers must be Tang Bohu and Xu Jing!!"
At that time, there were not only the two of them, but also other people, who were originally dissatisfied with Tang Bohu and Xu Jing, so they passed on the words that Cheng Minzheng blurted out.
This was unbelievable, and in an instant, it spread all over the capital, and when it was passed on, it became "Xu Jing, a rich man in Jiangyin, spent a huge amount of money and bought the test questions from the Cheng examiner."
Tang xu and xu are good friends, so people believe that the test questions that Xu Jing spent money to buy must have Tang Bohu's share, otherwise, the test papers that answered well were only two copies for Mao!
According to the "Twenty-Second Chronicle of Shi Jie", in this examination, Tang Bohu once again brought his arrogance and high-profile to full play, and as soon as he came out of the examination room, he was crazy and self-flaunting -- such a biased question, I have made it, you say that I am not a cow?
His self-aggrandizement has further "confirmed" people's doubts.
The rumor brought out a guy with a sincere heart, that person's name was Hua Chang, when he was given the matter by the household department, he did not investigate and investigate, and he hurriedly impeached the chief examiner Cheng Minzheng for selling the test questions.
The big boss at that time was Ming Xiaozong, who immediately ordered Cheng Minzheng to go home and rest, and Li Dongyang and other examiners reviewed cheng Minzheng's recorded volumes.
The results are very interesting, Xu Jing and Tang Bohu, neither of them were admitted.
This shows that there is no such thing as the main examiner selling exam questions.
But public opinion is so strange, the more imaginary it is, the more people believe that there is really something.
Then let a third party prove it, the imperial court ordered the Jinyi guards to strictly investigate.
After the strict interrogation, Jinyiwei concluded that there was no solid evidence.
The crime is washed away, everyone is innocent, is it all right?
wrong!
04
Social public opinion is strange, and the imperial court is even more strange, so these innocent people have all made sacrifices to calm public opinion.
First of all, Cheng Minzheng was arrested and put into a big prison, and he attacked his heart with a long carbuncle on his back, and after he was released from prison, he was full of grief and indignation, and he died of carbuncle.
According to the "Records of the Tribute of the State Dynasty", someone at that time wanted to replace Cheng Minzheng and instigated the impeachment of Zhonghua Chang, "so that he became a big prison, so that he died of resentment, and those who knew how much they still regretted it."
The History of the Ming Dynasty makes it more clear that it was Fu Han, the Rebbe Shangshu, who wanted to seize his throne.
Interestingly, the relevant historical records have an extremely positive evaluation of Fu Han: he was of high moral character, good at writing poetry and composition, lived a simple life, cared about the people's feelings, and after his death, the imperial court still read his moral exercises, and gave him the title of Prince Taibao and the title of Wen Mu.
Both Tang Bohu and Xu Jing were stripped of their ranks and made a minor official.
After that, Xu Jing studied behind closed doors, and after Ming Xiaozong's death, he hoped that the new boss would issue a pardon and rehabilitate him, and then embark on a career path through the imperial examination.
The next year, Xu Jing, who was not yet dead on the road of the Imperial Examination, went north to the Beijing Division to inquire about the news, but because of this blow, his health became worse and worse, and as soon as he arrived in the capital, he fell ill, and soon died at the Yongfu Zen Temple, only thirty-five years old.
Although Tang Bohu was not as miserable as Xu Jing, he let him become a small official, thinking that it was an insult to him, so he "shame is not an official."
When he angrily embarked on the journey back home, it meant that he also embarked on a hard journey in life.
When he returned home in despair, all he saw was the indifferent gaze of his wife.
After divorcing his wife, he could only make a living from poetry, calligraphy and painting.
In order to live, he even painted a lot of Spring Palace paintings.
Thirty-seven to forty-five years old, Tang Bohu was even more homeless, and had to take refuge in The Peach Blossom Temple.
During that time, he created a large number of poems, and his fame became even louder, and he was hired by Zhu Chenhao, the king of Ning, who was far away in Jiangxi.
Although it is not bad to enter the career and serve as an aide to others, at least, in the remaining days, there is no need to worry about chai rice oil and salt.
Unexpectedly, the ambitious King Ning wanted to rebel, and after Tang Bohu noticed it, he pretended to be crazy before he was able to escape.
Hit by this, he further saw through the world, and became more passive and decadent, more indulgent...
On January 7, 1524, Tang Bohu died in poverty, completing his frenzied and high-profile life.
History is really helpless.
Suddenly I remembered the sentence: History is far more wonderful than the interpretation, and it is also sadder than the interpretation.