He was a teacher of the two emperors of the late Qing Dynasty, as a shangshu of the Ministry of Transfers, Shangshu of the Ministry of Works, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of State Affairs of the Prime Minister, and other important positions; he was an important supporter of the "Penghu Reform Law"; at the same time, he was also a great calligrapher and a great collector. He is Weng Tonggong. His family has a genetic fetish for collecting, starting with his father, the collection has lasted for 6 generations for more than 170 years.
Mr. Weng Wange, the sixth generation of the Weng family (pictured in a wheelchair), at the 100th birthday banquet
On December 13, 2018, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA, announced that it had received the largest and most significant donation of Chinese paintings and calligraphy in history, the Weng Wange Family Collection, and the 100-year-old Weng Wange donated a total of 183 cultural relics, including 130 paintings, 31 calligraphy, 18 rubbings and 4 pieces of embroidery. In the previous 10 years, Ongwango had donated 21 important works to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Weng's collection is well-known in the literary circle, with tens of thousands of books and calligraphy and painting antiques, and now at the end of weng's sixth generation, it has basically dissipated.
Weng Tonggong is a complex figure in Modern Chinese History, and his history has always been controversial, but it is undeniable that he was a Qing official, so how did his family's collection come from?
Weng Tonggong
The Weng collection began with Weng Tonggong's father, Weng Xincun. In the late Ming Dynasty, there were Zhao Yongxian and Qi Mei father and son's Mai Wangguan, Qian Qianyi's Daiyun Lou, Mao Jin's Jigu Pavilion, etc., and the tradition of collecting books was extremely deep. In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, there were Zhang Jinwu's Ai Ri Jinglu and Chen Yun's Ji Rui Lou.
Ancient transportation and information were not at all as developed as they are today, so the collection had geographical restrictions and would generally be developed nearby. During the light years of the Qing Dynasty, social unrest, the bibliophile's heirloom treasures were mostly scattered, and one-third of the collection of Changshu Jirui Lou, about 40,000 or 50,000 books, was later acquired by Weng Xincun.
In the fifth year of Qing Daoguang, when Weng Xincun was serving as a scholar in Guangdong, he excavated a stele in the mud after the water of the pond dried up, and after cleaning, he found that it was engraved with the Song Dynasty's book "Nine Obsidians of Yaozhou", which is no longer a collection, but an archaeological discovery!
Weng Xincun's discovery of Mi Fu's book "Nine Obsidian Stones of Medicine Island"
Weng Tonggong's eldest brother, Weng Tongshu, was transformed from a literati to a military attaché, and although he had experienced hundreds of battles, he also learned to be rich in five cars, and in his later years he was in prison, and he was also busy editing the "Book of Han before and after" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". He also likes to buy ancient books, but not for collection, only for learning.
As a "college entrance examination champion", Weng Tonggong, who held a high position of power all his life, also loved to study history, and was diligent in writing, and his "Diary" recorded for a full 46 years, becoming the most important diary of the late Qing Dynasty and a first-hand source for studying the history of the Qing Dynasty. At the same time, the diary also records Weng Tonggong's collection experience.
Weng Tonggong's diary
In the summer of 2018, Mr. Weng Wange donated to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts at the 100th birthday banquet, wang yi's "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River" of the Qing Dynasty, which is one of the two most precious masterpieces of Weng Tonggong's life.
On May 1, 1875, Weng Tonggong went to the antique street to shop, and saw this long scroll of "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River", because the price was thousands of gold, and he really could not afford to buy it. Because Weng Tonggong was a big buyer, the antique shop sent someone to send the painting to his house, the more he looked at it, the more he liked it, so he had to go back to the antique shop to bargain, people said that it was not 300 silver not to sell. Weng Tonggong stayed in his hand for 4 days, and when it came to get the painting, the store actually said that it was necessary to be 400. Weng Tonggong was really reluctant to give up, so he had to exchange the money he was preparing to buy a house and move back into this famous work of Wang Yi.
Part of Wang Yi's "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River" of the Qing Dynasty
After chopping his hands, Weng Tonggong also inscribed a poem on the cover of this wooden box: "The map of the Yangtze River is suspected of having a god, and Weng Zi has forgotten his poverty." The pawn house buys paintings for several people today, and it is not about to go out to the guests. "This means that the people who sold their houses and bought paintings, now there are a few people, you don't come to ask me out, I appreciate the paintings at home."
Weng Tonggong's inscription poem on the lid of the "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River"
Another of Weng Tonggong's most important masterpieces in his life is Wang Yuanqi's "Du Fu's Poetic Intention Axis" in the Qing Dynasty, which is a landscape painting with a height of 3.2 meters. Weng Wange has decided to donate this work to the Shanghai Museum, along with his family's Shen Zhou's "Lindai jin Xie Andong mountain map".
Qing Dynasty Wang Yuanqi's "Du Fu's Poetic Intention Axis"
In the summer of 1887, Weng Tonggong saw this Wang Yuanqi's "Du Fu's Poetic Intention Axis" for the first time in Ruguzhai in Liulichang, and he was shocked by the "giant view". Five days later, he raised 300 taels of silver and bought it along with two albums by Dong Qichang and Dai Benxiao.
However, after shopping, Weng Tonggong repented in the "Diary": "Self-hatred is good for painting into a habit, committing the ring of desire." Although there is remorse in his words, he still can't stop: "I love books and paintings, and I don't hesitate to pour my bags and pour out (qūn)". "Inverting" means emptying the rice barn.
After the change of law, Weng Tonggong was dismissed from his post, and the first crime was actually that he liked to collect--"Since Weng Tonggong was taught to read, he has never cut the scriptures of Shi Dayi Kai to Chen, but from time to time he has said things such as calligraphy and painting antiques with pleasant and adaptable characteristics, often using incidents to spy on Yuanyi... Weng Tonggong is about to be dismissed from his post, and will never be used..."
Weng's collection to Weng Wange's generation is basically scattered, Weng Wange's words, but also represent the voice of the generations of Weng's inheritors: I live for the family collection, family collection has become my life.