"Zhao Zhiqian is a great talent, but the age of life is too young." The calligrapher Mr. Sun Boxiang sighed so much. Zhao Zhiqian died at the age of 55. If he were allowed to live to the age of 80, his achievements would be immeasurable. But in his short life, he has built a mountain that is difficult for future generations to overcome.
Zhao Zhiqian was an artistic genius, wizard and all-rounder in the late Qing Dynasty. Zhao Zhiqian once said: "Those who are independent are precious, the heavens and the earth are extremely large, many people say that they are exhausted, and independence is difficult to seek." He made unremitting efforts in poetry, books, paintings and printing all his life, and finally became a generation of masters.
Zhao Zhiqian: (August 8, 1829 – November 18, 1884), han Chinese, from Huiji , Zhejiang (present-day Shaoxing). The initial character Yifu , the number Leng Jun ; later changed to the word huī ( uncle ) , the number of sorrowful an , Mei An , Wu Min and so on. Famous calligrapher and painter of the Qing Dynasty, seal engraver.
When Zhao Zhiqian was a teenager, he had a rich collection of books, high talent, and strong understanding. At the age of two, he can write with a pen, at the age of six he learns Sinology, at the age of nine he learns poetry, and after the age of ten he devotes himself to the study of Song for seven years. At the age of seventeen, he studied under the epigrapher Shen Fucang for ten years. Therefore, Zhao Zhiqian laid a solid foundation in Traditional Chinese Studies from an early age.
Zhao Zhiqian, who had not yet entered society, began to become ill-fated. My father was bedridden all year round due to asthma. At the age of fourteen, his mother, who was the head of the family, died. At the age of fifteen, his brother broke up the family for revenge. Nineteen-year-old Zhao Zhiqian opened a museum to teach apprentices in order to make a living after starting a family. Within a few years, his wife was critically ill, his father died, and he was too poor to go to the village. Then there were frequent wars, the family moved out, and they were displaced.
At the age of thirty-four, two daughters died prematurely, their wives died of illness, and their apartments were burned. After that, three times to the capital, four times failed. In the end, he received funding from friends to donate officials to fill the vacancies and distribute Jiangxi, majoring in "Jiangxi Tongzhi" for five years, and then successively served as Poyang, Fengxin, and Nancheng Zhi County, and the conditions of the places he went to were harsh and miserable.
In jiangxi, Zhao Zhiqian was pragmatic and dedicated, scrupulous in his duties, and full of ability and talent, but he was often framed and jealous, and the upright and honest Zhao Zhiqian was incompatible with the official field of the Qing Dynasty in the dark. Coupled with the continuous doom and illness, Zhao Zhiqian, who was embarrassed, was exhausted. After less than a year in Nancheng, no one in the family was ill, and with the death of his successor, a generation of artistic giants Zhao Zhiqian completed his fifty-six-year-old life and died of illness in the official house of Nancheng.
Zhao Zhiqian's personality is stubborn and uninhibited, and at a young age, he showed his outstanding and unconventional ideas for learning and practicing art. The "Zhang An Miscellaneous Sayings", which was written around the age of thirty-four, comprehensively shows his thoughts and insights on calligraphy, painting, inscriptions, poetry, etc., and there are many true insights.
In the third year of Xianfeng (1853), Zhao Zhiqian wrote to Hu Peizhi: "My brother is far from the world. When I die, I will leave me; if I am unworldly, I will be destroyed. In the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858), Zhao Zhiqian engraved a cloud in a white text: "All look like Han cast, it seems that it is not yet vulgar." In the same month, he wrote a five-word association for Xiao Tani: "Good is the fairy bone, and amorous is the heart of the Buddha." ”
It can be seen that Zhao Zhiqian is always vigilant about "customs", which lays an important foreshadowing for his maverick and innovative changes in calligraphy and painting seal engravings since then. Being good also became his standard for accepting disciples. In the first year of Tongzhi (1861), Zhao Zhiqian wrote to the Wei family sun letter to introduce his disciple Qian Sheng, "Eighteen years of canals, books can be learned, quite vulgar ..."
In the study of calligraphy and painting, Zhao Zhiqian has a high vision, and the imitation of heavy meaning is not heavy, so he often laments that it is not the world's eye, and it is difficult to find the sound. In the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858), Zhao Zhiqian inscribed peony style cloud: "After tian shui yue, I am with the language." In the eleventh year of Xianfeng (1861), Zhao Zhiqian painted the inscription For Yuepo: "Non-Yao Fuzhuang, I am with the language." ”
In the first year of Tongzhi (1861), Zhao Zhiqian made a flower atlas inscription for Wei Jiasun: "Who can recognize the strange trees in the world, taste the sour and sweet body is astringent." He wrote to a friend around the age of thirty-six: "To treat oneself very rarely, it takes one or two hundred years." Zhao Zhiqian's artistic heart is lonely and bitter.
Zhao Zhiqian was influenced by Confucianism in his early years, and later gradually believed in Buddhism, and was deeply resentful of Taoism and the Eight Strands. His thoughts are contradictory. In the eleventh year of Xianfeng (1861), Zhao Zhiqian composed "Serving the Bitter Melon Monk as Flowers" on four screens and inscribed a poem: "Wealth and nobility are not my wishes, gods and immortals are friends." ”
In the second year of Tongzhi (1863), the thirty-five-year-old Zhao Zhiqian inscribed himself "ErjinDitang Seal Spectrum" Yun: "Let me engrave poetic texts all my life, GuTian can live me, and my parents' intention to give birth to me is very contrary." ”
He once wrote to a friend: "Around the age of thirty, I realized that the calligraphy and painting seal carving was not yet useful. After the age of 34, he devoted himself to opening up the road and opening up the situation. ...... If I am a day, in addition to writing and ink, I must concentrate on writing and finishing my long-cherished wish. From this, we can see that his original intention is not in the official. However, like many feudal literati, with the idea of not living up to the country's humiliation of relatives, he could only pursue his career, hoping to "use the sun and the moon to the fullest."
Zhao Zhiqian was embarrassed all his life, but he was content and happy, open-minded and free; he respected his parents, loved his family loyally, and had deep affection for his friends and disciples. From some poems, inscriptions and letters, it is not difficult to find that he is also a man of temperament, teasing, laughing, and scolding are not informal, and it is difficult to read.
In the eleventh year of Xianfeng (1861), Zhao Zhiqian folded the fan for Uncle Ping's "Night To Vanilla", with the inscription Cloud: "It is not a painting, a few strokes are embellished, please stay to repel mosquitoes and do not take the obstacle face." In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), Zhao Zhiqian sent a letter to Wei Jiasun Hanyun:
"Since the previous month, I don't know how many letters have been sent, and it is really strange that they have not replied word for word!" ...... When sending a stone, I earnestly so, and I knew that if I did not believe it, it would be better not to carve a stone. Killable, killable! Now the brother is ignorant and will send each one by one. If there was not a word in this letter, Wei Jiasun's heart would be ghostly, and the gods and men would be indignant. ”
In the ninth year of Tongzhi (1870), Zhao Zhiqian wrote a poem for Wei Sex's work, saying: "Fortunately, I am now jackfruit, but it can be seen and not eaten." If it is the time of Polo's revelation, it is from the previous nature or acquaintance. The painting of sex is too urgent, and the Painting of Buddha's urging is too evil, so it is deeply painted." Through these letters and poems, it also reflects the closeness of Zhao Zhiqian's relationship with his friends and the truth of his feelings from one side.
Zhao Zhiqian was brilliant, with outstanding achievements in the subset of history, the Golden Stone Chapter, the Poetry calligraphy and painting, and was one of the few outstanding literati, first-class scholars and calligraphy and painting seal engravers in the late Qing Dynasty. Zhao Zhiqian's birth was unfortunate in that era; Zhao Zhiqian was fortunate.
After his death, his calligraphy and painting works were published and collected in large quantities and even flowed into Dongying, leaving a huge and valuable wealth for future generations, and his creative ideas, exploration spirit and unique style of writing provided us with too many useful enlightenments.
-END-