On December 6, 1949, on a plane to Taiwan, Zhang Daqian put his face only on the porthole, greedily looking at the green trees and majestic green mountains that were faintly visible outside, this man with the reputation of "a thousand in five hundred years", he had never thought that he would have such a embarrassing day, he vaguely felt that this time a long trip, the return date is far away.
Accompanying Zhang Daqian was her fourth wife, Xu Wenbo, who held her three-year-old daughter, Xinpei, the daughter of Zhang Daqian and her second wife, Huang Congrin, all the way. Because of the strict restrictions on the capacity of the plane, Zhang Daqian traveled in many ways, still only asking for three tickets, Zhang Daqian finally chose to carry the youngest wife, before leaving, the daughter of the second wife was entangled with her father, Zhang Daqian's nose was sour, so he ordered Xu Wenbo to pick up Xinpei and rush to the airport, while Xu Wenbo's own daughter Xinbi, who was under three years old, and his seven-month-old son Xinjian, were left in Chengdu.
Before that, the city of Chengdu has been chaotic for a while, but Xu Wenbo has not sniffed out the seriousness of the situation at all, so this time, Xu Wenbo does not have any uneasiness, after all, since marrying into the Zhang family, he often accompanies her husband to play in the mountains, I don't know how many places to leave footprints. In Xu Wenbo's view, this time may stay a little longer, but in the end it is still necessary to go home. Therefore, she does not have the pain of life and death like Zhang Daqian, but also secretly rejoices that she can "monopolize" her husband for a while, after all, at home, her husband's love has never belonged only to herself...
The eldest wife, Zeng Qingrong, was arranged by her parents, and although everyone was born, she was not liked by Zhang Daqian;
The eldest wife, Zeng Qingrong
Two years later, the second wife Huang Congrine passed the door, 15-year-old Huang Conglutin was born slim, wonderful and handsome, once obsessed with Zhang Daqian, so he had the most children, but because of poor parenting and limited energy, these children were mostly raised by the eldest wife Zeng Qingrong;
Because of the desperate birth of children, so that Huang Congrine can not often accompany the husband who is playing in the mountains, Huang Ningsu married into the Zhang family for twelve years, in Beiping singing drums 18-year-old Yang Wanjun became Zhang Daqian's third wife;
When he was young, Zhang Daqian and his cousin Xie Shunhua Qingmei Bamboo Horse, the two families also made a family affair, but when Zhang Daqian returned from studying art in Japan, Fang knew that his fiancée had contracted an illness and died, and he was sad, and after that, Zhang Daqian also regarded this fiancée as one of his wives;
The following year, in the spring of 1919, the family again set the girl of the Ni family as his wife for Zhang Daqian, but soon the girl fell ill with dementia, and this marriage was stifled.
In 1920, Zhang Daqian, who went to Shanghai to study art with his second brother, met Li Qiujun, the daughter of the Ningbo Wang, and the two not only shared geng, but also had similar interests, because they often exchanged skills together, and their feelings gradually grew. Li's parents saw it in their eyes and offered to match their daughter Xu with Zhang Daqian, and Zhang Daqian was terrified, because he remembered that he already had a wife zeng Qingrong in the family, and could only bow down and refuse. Li Qiujun did not marry in his life because he loved Zhang Daqian deeply.
Zhang Daqian and his friends took a group photo in Shanghai, and the fifth from right is Li Qiujun
In 1927, Zhang Daqian was invited by a friend to play in Korea, and was deeply attracted by a geisha named Chi Chunhong during the banquet at the Pyongyang Hotel, and the friend saw Zhang Daqian's thoughts at a glance, so he ordered Chi Chunhong to take care of Zhang Daqian's living. The two spent four months of deep affection, during which Zhang Daqian saw that he was steady and understanding, not only could he make a lifelong relationship with him privately, but he wrote to ask the family, intending to take Nachi Chunhong as a concubine, and the second wife Huang Ningsu resolutely disagreed. Taking into account the various factors of the environment, Zhang Daqian can only endure the pain of cutting love, leaving a sum of money for Chi Chunhong to make a living, so that he can no longer wander the wind and dust, this year Chi Chunhong is 15 years old. In Zhang Daqian's heart, Chi Chunhong is also her wife.
In 1934, before meeting the third wife, Yang Wanjun, Zhang Daqian first met Li Huaiyu, a girl who sold art for a living in Beiping. During that time, Zhang Daqian lived in the Oriole Hall of the Summer Palace, and when he was chanting poems and paintings, Li Huaiyu often exhibited paper and ink next to him, and his red sleeves added incense. Zhang Daqian did not have the idea of taking her as a concubine, but he was stopped by his brother, and from then on, Li Huaiyu's girl became the white moonlight in Zhang Daqian's heart.
Jang Dae-chi and North Korean girl Chi Chun-hong
In 1943, Zhang Daqian returned to Chengdu from Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, after two years of investigation and study, Zhang Daqian was tired, but returning home could not make him feel at ease, the second wife Huang Congrine was a wayward and jealous, whenever he saw her husband's lace news on the tabloids, he colluded with the other two wives to make trouble with Zhang Daqian, a few years ago, Zhang Daqian had simply played missing for this, the family found that night fell, only to find that he hid in the cave, and finally the second wife Huang Congrine knelt down to admit his mistake, Zhang Daqian came out of the cave to go home.
One day, Zhang Daqian was bored by this matter again, and the eldest daughter Xinrui brought her classmates to Zhang Daqian's painting office, because this classmate Su Xi painted, and heard that Xinrui's father was Zhang Daqian, a great painter today, who was extremely envious and hated not being able to see the true appearance of the idol, so he asked his good friend Xinrui to take him home, even if he could not see the idol, it was good to see the paintings he made. And when Xinrui brought this classmate to Zhang Daqian, his heart was inexplicably throbbing, this girl's demeanor was elegant, the temperament was atmospheric, Zhang Daqian seemed to have found the feeling of meeting Chi Chunhong. This year, Xu Wenbo was only 14 years old, exactly 30 years younger than Zhang Daqian.
Zhang Daqian took a group photo with some of his children in Bade Garden
This classmate of Xinrui was called Xu Hongfei, and was later changed to Xu Wenbo by Zhang Daqian, according to Zhang Daqian's later explanation with his old friend, it was because when he painted the river one day, Xu Hongfei on the side always said "ripple" as "ripple", Zhang Daqian listened to it very pleasantly, and then simply changed a harmonic sound and called it "Wenbo". Therefore, later, people only knew that Zhang Daqian's fourth wife's name was Xu Wenbo, but when they saw the two white inscriptions "Xu Concubine" and "Hong Concubine Palm Record" in Zhang Daqian's old Tang Dynasty facsimile Wang Xizhi's "Xingyong Thesis", they did not know that it was Xu Wenbo's seal.
Since then, Xu Wenbo often came to Zhang Daqian's house to watch his paintings, so repeatedly, the two became more and more familiar, Xu Wenbo showed great interest in painting, not pestering Zhang Daqian to teach himself to paint, but Zhang Daqian declined. The reason why Zhang Daqian politely refused to teach Xu Wenbo to paint was purposeful, he later explained:
"The rules for receiving protégés in our Dafeng Hall are very strict, and the names of teachers and students do not involve anything else, I did not accept her as a student, but I would like her to be my virtuous wife."
At that time, Zhang Daqian, although he was not confused in his youth, was a "painting giant" who was well-known throughout the country, talented, and temperamental, which undoubtedly had a fatal attraction for teenage girls, not to mention Xu Wenbo, who originally worshipped Zhang Daqian. Lang had affection, the concubine was intentional, the two quickly collided with the spark, and later, Xu Wenbo once lived in the Zhang family, of course, in the name of Xinrui's classmates.
One day, the two were talking about poetry and painting, only to hear the sirens outside, the chickens in the courtyard flew around, it turned out to be a Japanese air raid, but at this time the Zhang family had not yet built an air raid shelter, Xu Wenbo saw the situation, saying that his aunt's family was in the suburbs of Xujiachang, where the air raid shelter was huge, if you want to avoid this period. Zhang Daqian naturally went happily, and the distance between the two became closer and closer.
In 1947, the second wife Huang Ningsu because her husband was provocative, like the new and tired of the old, lingered in the mahjong table for many years, and gradually developed feelings with a male "ma friend", so he asked for a divorce from Zhang Daqian, at this time Zhang Daqian's heart was on Xu Wenbo, only she was the only one who was alive, where was the meaning of retention? He quickly agreed and gave her a considerable sum of money.
In 1952, Zhang Daqian made a picture of a lady with Xu Wenbo as a model
In the same year, Zhang Daqian proposed to Xu's aunt to marry Xu Wenbo, Xu's aunt immediately expressed her refusal, in her opinion, although Zhang Daqian is a well-known painter in the country, but in terms of age, he is considered to be the niece's father, and in the future, when his niece is old, who will accompany him? However, Zhang Daqian told her that Xu Wenbo was pregnant at this time, and Xu's aunt could only agree.
Soon, Xu Wenbo gave birth to a daughter, named Xinbi, the husband and wife were like glue, and two years later, they added a son to Zhang Daqian, called Xinjian. Although the two are in love, at home, Zhang Daqian does not belong to Xu Wenbo alone, after all, he also has a stable and virtuous wife and a beautiful and gentle third wife, as well as many children. One person's love has to be divided into so many parts, how can Xu Wenbo feel enough?
Therefore, this time to Taiwan, Xu Wenbo is secretly happy. But she didn't know that this walk was a farewell, and she never had the opportunity to return to her hometown and never see her children again. The only fortunate thing is that she became the only one of her husband's four wives to be with for the rest of her life.
However, as the wife of a talented man, Xu Wenbo's road to wifehood was not so smooth, and in the days that followed, Xu Wenbo's marriage was still threatened.
Xu Wenbo and Zhang Daqian
After a dozen days in Taipei, Zhang Decided to move to Hong Kong for the convenience of contacting his family. However, after only two months of living, Zhang Daqian felt that this place was densely populated, the environment was complex, and it was not a place to live for a long time.
After the Spring Festival, in February 1950, the New Delhi Art Society of India issued an invitation to Zhang Daqian to hold a painting exhibition in India and to see the murals of the Ajanta Caves. Zhang Daqian gladly agreed, so he took Xu Wenbo and Xinpei with him, and that year, they traveled all over India and later settled in Darjeeling, a small city in the Himalayas in northern India.
In a foreign country, Zhang Daqian was more and more economically strapped because he could not sell paintings, but Xu Wenbo had no complaints, and still sorted out the housework sooner or later, and taught his husband and son. At this time, Xu Wenbo was more and more fascinated by Zhang Daqian.
After living in Darjeeling for more than a month, Xu Wenbo became pregnant again, because she was not at ease with the medical conditions in India, Zhang Daqian and his wife and daughter returned to Hong Kong to give birth, and in December of the same year, Xu Wenbo gave birth to a son in Hong Kong, because he remembered that he was pregnant in India, so he named it "Heart Seal". At this time, Zhang Daqian also realized that India was not suitable for living.
In February 1952, Zhang Daqian went to Argentina alone to step on the spot, during which he placed his wife and children in Hong Kong to wait, at that time Xu Wenbo was only a 23-year-old young woman, but he gladly took over the burden of taking care of two children and taking care of housework and contacting miscellaneous things, which made Zhang Daqian feel admired.
Three months later Zhang Daqian returned to Hong Kong, the family moved to Argentina, but lived in a rental house for a year, still can not do the long-term residence procedures, Zhang Daqian had to move to Brazil with his family, in October of this year, Zhang Daqian bought a 220 acres of flat land in Sao Paulo, Brazil, decided to make it into a Chinese garden style, Zhang Daqian named it "Bade Garden".
After living abroad, Zhang Daqian had to often fly to the East in order to purchase painting materials, paints, paintings, etc., and Japan was even worse, while Zhang Daqian had to stay in Japan for a month or two every time he came to Japan to complete the task. During these two months, Zhang Daqian's living life was served by yamada, a maid sent to him by the owner of the framed painting shop, and a maid called Ito was also assigned.
The construction of the "Bado Garden" took time, and Zhang Daqian took his family to Tokyo to live temporarily. Not only did they charter the entire floor of a hostel, but they also hired Yamada and Ito to be their maids. Soon, however, Ito resigned, leaving Yamada alone. Yamada was born elegantly, and slightly understood painting, and most importantly, under the training of Zhang Daqian, she learned to speak Peking dialect and write Chinese characters, which surprised Zhang Daqian and loved it very much.
At that time, one of the translators around Zhang Daqian saw that Yamada and Zhang Daqian had signs of ambiguity, felt that Yamada was unfaithful to his master, and was particularly disgusted, he tried to warn Yamada that she was not allowed to have a transgression, but he was worried that Yamada's departure would affect the operation of Zhang Daqian's life, so he resisted. But one day he really couldn't bear it, so he gently reminded Xu Wenbo, who expected Xu Wenbo to say: She had already seen the ambiguity between her husband and Yamada, and her husband did not deliberately hide himself, thinking that when he was in Chengdu, four wives could serve Daqian at the same time, and he was also the youngest, and now he was the only serious wife who accompanied Daqian, and he was satisfied. As for Yamada, as long as she is good for Daqian and can make Daqian happy, I don't care. At that time, Xu Wenbo was only 24 years old, but he could be so generous and tolerant that one of the kings was impressed.
Xu Wenbo's later practice is even more impressive, during her stay in Japan, two nights a week, she will shut Zhang Daqian outside the door, the intention is obvious, that is, to let Zhang Daqian go to the mountain room to sleep. This move was once puzzling, and later she explained it herself, saying that everyone said that Zhang Daqian was a rare genius in the history of the art world, and she had the responsibility to keep Zhang Daqian healthy and happy, so she would not stop anything that did not endanger Daqian's health and could make Daqian happy.
Zhang Daqian and Yamada
According to Zhang Daqian's meaning, if there is no accident, he wants Yamada to become his "seventh lady", (Zhang Daqian once said to his friends that in addition to the four wives of Zeng Qingrong, Huang Ningsu, Yang Wanjun and Xu Wenbo, he also counted his fiancée Xie Shunhua and the Korean girl Chi Chunhong as "wives". However, later, Zhang Daqian and his wife realized that Yamada's purpose in approaching them was not simple, so they quickly alienated her.
Since then, Xu Wenbo has "monopolized" Zhang Daqian's road and is unimpeded. Because of Yamada, Xu Wenbo was more and more valued by Zhang Daqian, and often praised him among relatives and friends. As for whether the tolerance in dealing with Yamada was sincere, whether there was no trace of jealousy, only Xu Wenbo himself knew.
After that, Zhang Daqian lived in Brazil, went to Paris, went to the United States, returned to Taiwan, traveled to various countries to hold exhibitions, participated in activities, traveled to the mountains, painted and chanted, Xu Wenbo was accompanied by Xu Wenbo, until Zhang Daqian's death in 1983, she was still the only woman who stayed by his side, and she and her beloved husband did a lifelong stay.
Zhang Daqian and his wife take a group photo with Picasso
However, Xu Wenbo was not so lucky, and when Zhang Daqian talked to several villagers about the situation of the emperor leaving Chengdu in a hurry, he said that he did not intend to take Xu Wenbo with him at the beginning, because he was worried that his experience was insufficient and he could not cope with the big scene of opening up the territory overseas. But think again, the eldest wife Zeng Qingrong must sit in the old house, the second wife has been divorced, the third wife Yang Wanjun suffered from uterine cancer, and it is unrealistic to take it out, so Xu Wenbo became the only woman who accompanied Zhang Daqian to the old age by luck, and this is so far away for the other 9 women in Zhang Daqian's life.
Bibliography of this article: "The World of Zhang Daqian", "The Second Half of Zhang Daqian's Life", "Zhang Daqian's Interpretation", etc