If according to the existing data, many people think that Zhou Lianggong may not be able to be counted as an Indian, and even extreme Indians will think that he is a "traitor" because of his quality, because the information provided in Baidu Encyclopedia clearly says "Yichen", and some people think that zhou Lianggong should not appear in art history with only this one black dot.
(Zhou Lianggong statue)
What's more, in the existing materials, Zhou Lianggong did not have a large number of seal engraving works passed down, and even if there were corresponding copies, they were all re-engraved by his sons after Zhou Lianggong's death. However, we believe that if we look at the entire history of seal engraving, Zhou Lianggong is still a qualified Indian (Xiling Printing Society absorbs Indians, and there is also a view of the achievements of seal engraving theory research). Because he did a very important thing, that is, he wrote a "Biography of the Indians", the content of which was mainly written for a total of fifty-nine famous seal engravers from Wen Peng in the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, and the book also occasionally expounded Zhou Lianggong's own views on printing and the transformation of the printing genre, the customs and habits, and so on. This "Biography of the Indians" provides the most direct first-hand information for future generations to study the seal engravings of this period, which is the important role of Zhou Lianggong in the history of printing. At the same time, he also collected a copy of the seal, that is, the "Lai Gutang Seal Notation" to pass on, which had a great influence on the seal carving of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, in our series of "Biography of the Indians", Zhou Lianggong was included.
I. Personal Profile:
Zhou Lianggong (1612-1672) was born in the 40th year of the Ming Dynasty and died in the 11th year of the Qing Kangxi Dynasty. Connoisseur of seal engraving in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the character Yuanliang, the number Oak Garden, also known as Tao'an, Minus Jai, Shu Zhai, Shi Yuan, Shu Gong, Chang Mei Gong, Gong Gong, Bo An, Oak Xia Sheng, Mr. Oak Xia, etc. A native of Xiangfu, Henan (present-day Kaifeng, Henan), he later moved to Baixia (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu). Erudite, good at poetry. (According to the "Selected Papers on The Printing of Past Dynasties", Xiling Printing Society Edition, edited by Han Tianheng, p. 156) Zhou Lianggong was 28 years old, that is, Ming Chongzhen thirteen years (1640) Zhongjinshi. Initially, he made a county order in Wei county, and later was appointed as an official to supervise the imperial history. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng's rebel army captured the Jing Division, and Zhou Lianggong went south to follow Zhu Yousong, the King of Mingfu, to Jiangning. In the second year of Qing Shunzhi (1645), Duo Duo, the Prince of Yu, sent troops to Jiangnan, and Zhou Lianggong saw that the general trend was gone, so he surrendered to the Qing court. He was awarded two Huai salt envoys, Shunzhi three years (1646) transferred yangzhou bingbi road, Shunzhi four years (1647) promoted to Fujian according to the envoy, not only moved to the political envoy, Shunzhi eleven years (1654) was appointed left deputy capital imperial official, Shunzhi twelfth year (1655) Shu Chen Minhai used military machines, because of the merits of suppressing the anti-Qing army, moved to the right shilang of the household department.
(Zhou Lianggong who personally ordered artillery to attack the enemy)
When he was serving as an envoy, Fujian Wuju Wang Guobi and Gongsheng Ma Jichang and others founded the Nanshe and Xishe associations, and there were many criminals, and Zhou Lianggong applied for the supervision of Kanming to convict, so he arrested Ma Jichang and four others, and later all four died in prison. In this matter, he was impeached by The Governor of Min, who was called Liang Gong ku zheng and ordered him to be suspended from his post to listen to the trial. At this time, haikou invaded Fuzhou, dozens of soldiers died in the city, the situation was critical, inspector Yi Yonggui obeyed the people's wishes, let Zhou Lianggong guard the west gate, Zhou Lianggong personally fired cannons, killed three enemy marshals, Haikou retreated in fear, and the city was saved. However, because he was a dismissed member at that time, and there were various contradictions between the Manchu and Han dynasties, it had become a common practice for the imperial court to fall, and his merits were not recorded, not only that, but he was framed by Tian Qilong and others according to the envoys, saying that he had received more than 40,000 yuan of stolen money, and was sentenced to death in the seventeenth year of Shunzhi (1660). Fortunately, he was released after a general amnesty.
In the first year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1662), Zhou Lianggong was reinstated as a governor of Youshi Road and supplemented the Coastal Defense Road in Qingzhou, Shandong. In the fifth year (1666), it was transferred to Jiangnan Jiang'an Grain Road. In 1669, Zhou Lianggong was impeached by the governor of Caoyun, Shuai Yan Bao, for embezzling grain payments, was dismissed from his post, and sentenced to death. In the ninth year (1670), he was pardoned again, and his life was saved. He died three years later (1672). (According to the Magazine of Literature and History, No. 3, 1999)
2. Contributions to Printing Studies
1. Protect the Indians, preserve the golden stone, and integrate the "Lai Gu Tang Seal Spectrum". Zhou Lianggong's main achievement is not in his politics, but in his collection appreciation. His family relies on the ancient hall, and the collection of seals, books and paintings is extremely rich. Zhou Lianggong was a good soldier and a pitiful talent throughout his life, did not cheat on his friends, and left the old man for a while, and under the trend of the times at that time, to some extent, he protected these widows and Indians, and his family was often full of friends, drinking and writing poetry. Because he had a special love for Tibetan seals, many of his friends at that time were famous seal engravers (among them was the Hui Sect Grandmaster Cheng Yi). Therefore, he collected more than a thousand seals, and he could play the sword when he arrived, and the ancient meaning was full of ancient meaning. His son collected these seals into the "Lai Gu Tang Seal Notation", which is together with the "FeihongTang Seal Notation" compiled by Wang Qishu and the "Xueshantang Seal Notation" compiled by Zhang Hao, collectively known as the "Three Halls Seal Notation", which provides a rich reference material for the early Qing Dynasty Indians to learn seal engraving. Zhou Lianggong wrote a lot in his lifetime, and there were also twenty-four volumes of the Lai Gu Tang Collection, including twelve volumes of poems, twelve volumes of wen, and notes such as "Shadow of the Book in the Tree House". However, in his twilight years, because he felt his tortuous experience and the impermanence of the world (twice sentenced to death, twice pardoned), he knew that the false name was useless, so he burned all his writings, and the twenty-four volumes of the existing Lai Gu Tang collection, etc., were all re-engraved by his sons Zhou Zaijun, Zhou Zaiyan, zhou Zaijian, and so on. (Ibid.)
2. Written as "Biography of the Indians". Zhou Lianggong made friends with many famous seal engravers (such as the above-mentioned Cheng Yi), spared no effort in searching for printing, and devoted himself to the study and promotion of printing, which was old and subtle, and had contributed to the development of the stamp art of the genre at that time and later. According to Qian Lucan (bibliophile and collegial surveyor of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. He said: "Therefore, Mr. Li is proficient in the study of the Six Books, and the Four-Square Exercise is an art to enter the door, and often waits for Mr. To be cut off to become famous." It can be seen that Zhou Lianggong's level of seal engraving judgment is quite high and influential, and he may become famous as soon as he recommends it, so the Indians at that time came to him to ask for a ruling and rule that he must dedicate his work, which also indirectly contributed to the writing of his "Lai Gu Tang Seal Spectrum", and at the same time, because he came into contact with a considerable number of Indians, he also had the opportunity to compile the "Biography of the Indians".
(Currently available copies of the "Biography of the Indians")
"Biography of the Indians" is a set of "unfinished books", which more informatively records the printing strategy of the printing altar from the middle of the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, the transformation of genres, the habits of customs, personnel exchanges, and also records Zhou Lianggong's own views on printing, many of the printing historical materials are passed down through this book, therefore, this book is an important document for studying the development period of the seal art of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. For example, Wen Peng's record of the matter of discovering the light freeze; the record of how to shake the words "The six books cannot be refined and righteous, but can drive the knife like a pen, I do not believe it"; for example, the record of the only female seal engraver in the history of seal carving, Liang Yuan, the concubine Han Yousu, said that "chiseling mountain bones", etc., are all from the "Biography of the Indians". This "Biography of the Indians" consists of three volumes, sixty-eight articles, followed by sixty surnames of the Indians, presumably the names of the Indians who were to be written later but were not completed in the end.
3. Seal engraving works
Zhou Lianggong's seal engraving works can not be confirmed much now, because Zhou Lianggong burned all his writings before his death. The prints we found are only some of the works that can be found in the existing data, and from these works alone, Zhou Lianggong also has a high level of seal engraving. Take a look at the work:
(Ascending to the Throne)
(But will Shochiku Lai Yan Jiake)
(I think of the ancients)
(Can make autumn better than spring)
(Lai Gu Tang)
(Paper window bamboo house lights green screen)
(Nine points of smoke in Qizhou)
It is worth stressing again that although Zhou Lianggong's contribution to the history of Printing is only a book of prints, a "Biography of the Indians", in the eyes of people who are picky, it seems that he is not enough to be called an Indian, plus he was both an official in the Ming Dynasty and an official in the Qing Dynasty, and his integrity is disdainful. But only in terms of artistic contributions, as well as his addiction to printing, which is also the reason why he contributed to the theory of printing, he once said: "Life loves this, which is equivalent to Nangong (Mi Fu) loves stones." Therefore, even if he did not have a seal on his side, we also believe that it is appropriate for Zhou Lianggong to be called a seal engraver.
([Indian Biography] No. 16, part of the picture from the Internet)