Dong Qichang's alternative life

Author: Wang Miao

For Dong Qichang, a famous calligrapher and painter in the late Ming Dynasty, there have always been two extremely controversial evaluations in history: in terms of the art of calligraphy and painting, he was a great Confucian of calligraphy and painting, a generation of masters; in terms of personality and character, he was despicable and inferior, and his private morality was detrimental -- the former had a large number of calligraphy and painting works by Dong Qichang and the admiration of famous artists in later generations, as evidenced by all; the main basis of the latter was two widely circulated wild history pamphlets, "The Facts of the People Copying Dong Eunuchs" and "Black and White Biography", which contained the ability to slander and slander Dong Qichang and his people. Dong Qichang's personal image also plummeted, and later generations had mixed praise and mixed reputations. Sun Wei's new book "Biography of Dong Qichang" is a panoramic biographical work about Dong Qichang, the author through years of research and research, Dong Qichang has made a comprehensive depiction and multi-angle interpretation, with a large number of historical facts to clarify the layers of fog on Dong Qichang, and to a large extent re-restore Dong Qichang's personal image.

A genius of calligraphy and painting who is well versed in Zen, a master connoisseur with torch-like eyes, a shrewd businessman who is good at trading, a cautious official who is cautious, and a late Ming scholar who is greedy and lustful--the shrewdness of a businessman, the cowardice of a literati, and the oiliness of an official are all in one, which is Sun Wei's basic positioning of Dong Qichang. As a master of art in the late Ming Dynasty, from a commoner to a very popular subject, Dong Qichang's life is actually more like an example of inspirational success. Dong Qichang was born in a poor family, his father is only a private school Mr. Dong Qichang likes to dance and ink from childhood, has a great interest in calligraphy and painting, and is famous for his hometown in the name of calligraphy and painting at a young age, which greatly disappoints Jackie Chan's father. His father even tore up the note sent by the guests to ask Dong Qichang to shred to show punishment, but even so, Dong Qichang still did not change his mind, he not only went farther and farther on the road of calligraphy and painting art, but also won three yuan in the imperial examination that determined the fate, and finally passed the first place in the second place in the temple examination, successfully entered the career path, and completed the most important turning point in his life, thus opening his legendary life course.

When Sun Wei wrote the Biography of Dong Qichang, he first placed Dong Qichang in the context of the times for investigation. As Sun Wei said, the evening light is both the best and the worst era: in terms of culture, Cheng Zhu Lixue gradually declined, Wang Yangming's "psychology" was widely disseminated, and the pursuit of personal independence and physical and mental freedom became the goal of the life of scholars; in the economic aspect, the commodity economy became increasingly prosperous, and the gradual rise of the citizen class provided a suitable soil for Dong Qichang's calligraphy and paintings to enter the market. Corresponding to the economy and culture, it is the filth and chaos of the politics of the late Ming Dynasty, corruption is prevalent, the party is fierce, and in the midst of it, if you are not careful, you will be in trouble. Dong Qichang actually experienced four dynasties without being defeated, becoming one of the few people in the sinister imperial court who retired from the whole body, and his caution in dealing with the world is not difficult to imagine, he once said in "Raising the Bud of Karma": "If you want to be a leader, you must let go of this heart, if you swim for nine days, your vision is big, the situation is big, everything is thick and thin, I am against me, I am against me, etc., do my best to accommodate, do not color, what a measure!" "It may be regarded as Dong Qichang's lifelong behavior in the world."

The most criticized part of Dong Qichang's life is that he was arrogant and blessed, and he ran amok in the township -- according to the "Facts of Dong Qichang's People's Copying of Dong Zhao", Dong Qichang's son Dong Zu often took a fancy to the handmaiden of The Xiucai Lu Zhaofang family, and wanted to buy her as a concubine, but the Lu family refused. Later, Dong Zu often sent people to forcibly rob the lu family's handmaidens, and this matter was written by the storytellers as "Black and White Biography" and spread among the people. The Dong family suspected that fan chang was the work of the student, so they falsely accused and forced Fan Chang to die, and insulted and beat Fan Chang, which finally provoked a people's rebellion, and overnight, hundreds of luxurious houses of the Dong family were burned by angry villagers, and Dong Qichang and his family fled over the wall, only to survive. Sun Wei reproduced the details of the "people copying Dong Eunuch" with a large number of historical materials, and then pointed out that Dong Qichang's rich side is a fact, and he does indeed bear the responsibility of not being strict with his godson, but he himself has no bad deeds, and the people's rebellion itself is the result of "serving the ears with the ears, serving the eyes with the eyes, and turning indignation into hatred", the essence of which is the accumulation and outbreak of dissatisfaction among all strata of society at the end of the Ming Dynasty -- "The "People's Copying of Dong Eunuchs" is just a fuse, and what is exposed from it is actually the profound class antagonism and social contradictions of the late Ming Dynasty, which can be described as a phrase.

There is no doubt that Dong Qichang was one of the few masters of calligraphy and painting in the late Ming Dynasty, and he was also the master of the identification methods and techniques of ancient calligraphy and painting in that era. Dong Qichang earned a lot of money by selling books and paintings, gaining fame and fortune, and he did do some offensive things such as ghostwriting and filling the truth with fakes. But in general, in the specific era environment of the late Ming Dynasty, Dong Qichang wandered between the officialdom and the art world, never doing anything too out of the ordinary—he was a Danqing master and a conformist official; he was a man in the wind and moon, and he was also an experienced businessman. Sun Wei fully affirmed Dong Qichang's contribution to art history - without a certain degree of professional knowledge, it is difficult to do this, Sun Wei also believes that Dong Qichang's life symbolizes the process of gradual departure between the late Ming dynasty and the imperial court, although he has no quarrel with the world, but it is not helpful, when he takes a generous step to complete a gorgeous life, the Ming Dynasty is also coming to an end. (Wang Miao)

Source: Qilu Evening News