The name Tang Bohu may be more familiar to everyone from film and television works, and the image of a talented man with a suave wife and concubines is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. However, the real Tang Bohu is a literati full of pathos. He had a bumpy career, a difficult life, and the loss of his relatives, and finally died alone......
1.【才子之名：江南之冠】
In the sixth year of Chenghua of Ming Xianzong, a baby boy was born in Yin, named Tang Yin, the word Bohu, because it belongs to the tiger and got this word. He was later known as Tang Bohu, who was known as "the first genius in Jiangnan". Born in Wu County (present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu) in the Ming Dynasty, he was smart and clever since childhood, but he was once unprofessional. But under the persuasion of his family and friends, he was angry and worked hard, and finally won the first place in the township test in the eleventh year of Hongzhi. Tang Bohu is not only good at calligraphy and painting, but also poetry is a must, especially the most exquisite painting skills.
When he was a teenager, he studied under the famous painter Shen Zhou, because of his talent and intelligence, and his painting skills made rapid progress. Shen Zhou admired him, but this made Tang Bohu complacent and no longer humbly study. Once, Shen Zhou asked him to close the window, Tang Bohu found out that it was actually a painting, he was shocked and deeply ashamed, and since then he has abandoned impetuousness, studied painting diligently, and finally surpassed his teacher and became a generation of painting masters.
Legend has it that someone accidentally fell into the water when crossing the bridge with the "Shrimp Picture" painted by Tang Bohu, and the shrimp on the painting actually swam out and fell into the water; Although these legends are mysterious, they show that Tang Bohu's painting skills are superb and vivid.
Tang Bohu was a lifelong drinker, and often exchanged painting fans for wine. Once, at the West Lake Wine Shop, he couldn't pay the bill because he was shy in his pocket, so he wanted to exchange a fan for wine. When a wealthy merchant saw that there was no money on the fan, he belittled the price. happened to be a scholar passing by, saw the fan and praised it, and recognized Tang Bohu. The customers were pleasantly surprised and asked for a high price. The wealthy businessman was busy apologizing and was willing to exchange his daughter for a fan. Tang Bohu only asked the scholar to pay for the wine and gave him the fan.
Tang Bohu's poems are also unique, often using colloquialisms into the poems, which are witty and interesting. A certain time the show asked for poetry, he wrote while drinking, at first it seemed disorganized, but in fact it was a poem full of charm, which made the show breathtaking.
There are countless anecdotes about Tang Bohu, but most of them are from wild histories and novels. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Feng Menglong's "Tang Jieyuan's Smile and Marriage" made Tang Bohu's image of a merry and talented man deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. On this basis, later generations created more legendary stories, such as Tang Bohu's autumn incense.
2.【失意仕途：科场舞弊之痛】
However, despite Tang Bohu's fame, his life was not as glamorous as the legend suggests. The record of him in the "History of the Ming Dynasty" is only a few hundred words, and the evaluation of him in the rest of the official history is mostly general. Most of the legendary stories about his "No. 1 genius in Jiangnan" cannot be verified. And the folk legend that he went in and out of the Qinglou and had nine wives is even more nonsense.
The real Tang Bohu was born in a merchant family, and since he was a child, he has carried the expectations of his family, studied the scriptures hard, and rarely had leisure time. At the age of 16, he was the first in the Suzhou Prefecture Examination, and at the age of 29, he was the first in the Zhongnan Zhili Township Examination. However, a major turning point in life also followed.
According to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", Tang Bohu's articles in the township examination were amazing, and they were appreciated by the chief examiner Liang Chu and Cheng Minzheng, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites. However, in the subsequent examination, Tang Bohu and Xu Jing were involved in a fraud case because they visited Cheng Minzheng many times. Xu Jing's heart was not correct, bribed Cheng Minzheng's servant, and obtained the exam questions. The questions of the annual examination were extremely cold, and only the answers of Tang Bohu and Xu Jing were brilliant. Cheng Minzheng's unintentional words actually laid the root cause for them. Later, someone reported that the exam questions were leaked, and the emperor was furious and sent Cheng Minzheng, Xu Jing and Tang Bohu to prison. Xu Jing confessed in prison and later retracted his confession, but the emperor had ordered the release of Cheng Minzheng and Tang Bohu. However, Tang Bohu was deeply humiliated by this incident and gave up the opportunity to serve as a petty official in Zhejiang.
His wife, Xu, originally expected him to soar, but she was disheartened and left him after he lost his position. This fraud case not only ruined Tang Bohu's fame, but also made him lose the warmth of his family and became an indelible pain in his life.
3.【半生颠沛，逍遥度日】
In the thirteenth year of Hongzhi (1500), Tang Bohu, who had just escaped from prison, was completely disheartened by officialdom. He was determined to devote the rest of his life to the art world of traveling through mountains and rivers, reciting poetry and painting. He left the bustling city of Suzhou by boat, traveled to Zhenjiang and Yangzhou, and then traced the Yangtze River, visited Wuhu and Jiujiang, and enjoyed famous places such as Lushan. Subsequently, he set foot in Huangzhou, gazed at the ruins of the Battle of Chibi, and then went to Hunan, where he enjoyed the scenery of Yueyang Tower and Dongting Lake, and then traveled to Fujian, Zhejiang, Anhui and other places. The journey took nine months. Tang Yin took in the beautiful scenery of various places, and accumulated rich materials for his artistic creation in the second half of his life.
In the ninth year of Zhengde (1514), Zhu Chenhao, the king of Ming Dynasty, hired Tang Bohu to Nanchang to assist him with a large amount of money. King Ning's insight rekindled the weak political ideals in Tang Bohu's heart. After careful consideration, Tang Bohu decided to accept the invitation. However, to his surprise, King Ning's real intention in hiring him was not to value his talent, but to use him to recruit troops for the rebellion and usurpation. Tang Bohu, who was caught in the political whirlpool, felt very depressed, and in desperation, he had to pretend to be crazy and stupid to avoid the disaster of killing. Later, when King Ning saw that he was acting insanely, he let him return to his hometown.
After returning to Suzhou again, Tang Bohu had nothing to live on, so he had to make a living by selling calligraphy and paintings. With his reputation as a talent, most of Tang Bohu's calligraphy and paintings can be sold at a good price, and over time, he has also accumulated some savings. At the age of 36, Tang Bohu used these savings to build a residence called "Taohuawu" in a place in the north of Suzhou. Although there are only a few thatched huts in Taohuawu, the scenery is beautiful, quiet and elegant. Tang Bohu named it "Peach Blossom Nunnery" and called himself "Peach Blossom Nunnery". His famous poem "Song of the Peach Blossom Temple" was created here: "The peach blossom nunnery in the peach blossom dock, the peach blossom fairy under the peach blossom nunnery." The peach blossom fairy planted peach trees and picked peach blossoms for wine money. ...... Others laugh at me for being crazy, and I laugh at others for not being able to see through it. ......" Tang Bohu often invited his friends Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhengming and others to the Taohua Nunnery to party, drink and write poems, although the life was poor but full of freedom, it was the most comfortable time in the second half of Tang Bohu's life.
According to wild history, Tang Bohu met a confidante named Shen Jiuniang in the second half of his life. When Tang Bohu was destitute, Shen Jiuniang accompanied him to tide over the difficulties, and even gave him the idea of remarrying. However, unfortunately, Shen Jiuniang's early death made Tang Bohu sad. Later, according to Shen Jiuniang's name, people actually fabricated rumors that Tang Bohu had nine wives and concubines, which was pure nonsense.
4. [Poetry and painting are unrecognized]
"The wind and rain of the ten dynasties are dark, and the eight wives and children are poor. The letter is innocent to play me, and no one comes to buy fan poems. This poem in Tang Bohu's later years depicts his impoverished life with bleak strokes. Since his career was disappointed, Tang Bohu often used wine to kill his sorrows, and he was very drunk. He often compares himself to Li Bai's talent, but he can deeply experience Li Bai's drunken pleasure. However, alcoholism made Tang Bohu's body weaker and weaker, and he was unable to paint often due to illness, and his life became more and more difficult, so he could only borrow money from his friends Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhengming and others to survive.
In his later years, Tang Bohu lost his ambition, had no emotional sustenance, and even found it difficult to maintain his basic life. The tragic life experience made his mind more and more depressed, and he was deeply confused about the value of life. Therefore, he began to believe in Buddhism, hoping to find spiritual sustenance from Zen Buddhism, and learned many life philosophies from it. For example, he once wrote a poem "Seventy Words", "Life is rare in seventy years, and I am seventy years old." The first ten years are young, the last ten years are old, and there are only fifty years in between, and half of them pass by in the night. I have only been alive for twenty-five years, and I have suffered so much." Although the poems are concise and straightforward, they express the hardships of his life and his deep understanding of the shortness of life and the impermanence of fate.
In the autumn of the second year of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1523), Tang Bohu and several friends traveled to Dongshan together, and read Su Dongpo's sentence "A hundred years are strong and half, and there is not much suffering in the future", and his heart couldn't help but feel a deep sadness. When he returned home, his health deteriorated and he was soon bedridden. Tang Bohu had a premonition that his time was short, so he wrote a desperate poem: "Born in the yang world, there is an end, and it doesn't matter if you die and return to the underworld." The sun and the earth are similar, only when drifting in a foreign land. A few days later, 54-year-old Tang Bohu died in loneliness and depression.
After Tang Bohu died, his friends Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhengming and others raised funds to take care of his funeral affairs briefly and buried him near the Peach Blossom Nunnery. Zhu Yunming wrote an epitaph of more than 1,000 words for Tang Bohu, which has become one of the main historical materials for future generations to understand this tragic genius.
Due to poverty for half of his life, most of Tang Bohu's calligraphy, paintings, poems and texts were sold and scattered all over the country. Until the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, two Changshu booksellers admired Tang Bohu's talent and painstakingly collected his works, and finally Tang Bohu's poems and paintings were circulated. In the process, his poems and anecdotes have been enriched and perfected, and have been included in the "Ming Poetry Chronicle" and "Haiyu Ancient and Modern Wenyuan". When we talk about Tang Bohu's romantic talent, do we understand the tragic encounter behind the romance and the helpless life......