Wen | Zhou Ran
"Shi Tao Self-Portrait". Shi Tao (1642-1708), Ming Dynasty patriarch, monk painter, retired to Buddhism and entered the Tao, and settled in Yangzhou in his later years
In the twenty-sixth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1687), Shi Tao came to Yangzhou for the first time in his life, preparing to borrow the canal and take a boat to the north, it seems that because the waterway is not smooth, "the north tour is not fruitful", and can only travel between Yangzhou and Nanjing. "In the past, the princes and grandchildren held the stones, and the robes were often first in the princes. Now the lonely guarded the deserted pavilion, and the lone lamp groaned the old cold and unsatisfied. This is the description of Shi Tao's embarrassing life during his stay in Yangzhou, a close friend du Cheng, who was not only poor in life, but also lonely in spirit.
In March of this year's Yangchun, Shi Tao first set foot in Yangzhou's network, participated in the activities of the Chunjiang Poetry Society, and got to know several important people. The first is Wu Qi, the founder of the Chunjiang Poetry Society and the Wu family of Huishang. Wu Qi served as the prefect of Huzhou, retired to Yangzhou in his later years, and was also a poet and playwright. There is a letter from Shi Tao to Wu Qi at the Princeton University Art Museum, in which Shi Tao calls the other party a "confidant of the second son" and says that he wants to send a small painting to the past, although it is a "useless thing", it can also help a "small favor". At that time, Shi Tao was poor and destitute, "there is no way in and out, like falling to the bottom of a well", he rushed to Yangzhou, he was making some material preparations for going north to Yanjing, took the initiative to send Mobao, tried to establish friendly relations with the sponsors, and his attitude was respectful and polite.
"Du Fu's Poetic Album" Ten Kai, Qing, Shi Tao, colored paper, Zhang Xueliang's old collection, brocade set for his wife Zhao Yidi hand-sewn, is now a Chinese-American collection
In April, Shi Tao met the dramatist Kong Shangren in Yangzhou, and with great hope, participated in the secret garden collection initiated by the latter. Kong Shangren is 8 years younger than Shi Tao, and has served as a doctor of Guozijian, the head of the household department, and the Guangdong Siwailang. At that time, Kong Shangren was ordered to assist Sun Zaifeng, the right attendant of the Ministry of Works, to dredge the mouth of the Huai River in the Huaiyang area, and lived in Yangzhou after official duties, and befriended and sang with many famous people in Jiangdong. Most people are familiar with Kong Shangren because he wrote the love song "Peach Blossom Fan" set in the decline and fall of the late Ming Dynasty, and it was also because of this play that he was later deposed and idle.
Kong Shangren described in detail in the "Hu Hai Collection" the lively and noisy scene of the Secret Garden Yaji. This should be regarded as a large-scale elegant collection, with more than 30 celebrities from all over the world with names to examine, including painters Gong Xian, Cha Shibiao, Wu Qi, Shi Tao, etc., shi Tao is the only monk. "The water in the north corner of the famous garden is opened, and the wine chip tea set is chaotic and mossy." Guests urged the white boat to arrive first, and the flowers approached the Red Bridge to see the victory planted. The poem also reveals that the place where the art collection was held was located in the area of Chengxiang in the north of Yangzhou City, which was a famous rich area at that time. This is the last large-scale collection of elegant collections independently undertaken by literati officials in the history of Yangzhou in the Qing Dynasty, and the behind-the-scenes gold lords and initiators who have been active on the stage of the Yangzhou Poetry Society since then are basically the emblem merchant groups who are rich and "vassal and elegant".
In the whole activity, Shi Tao's performance was not eye-catching, and he did not even leave a poem, but after the collection, Kong Shangren never forgot Shi Tao, wrote a letter to his mutual friend Zhuo Ziren, annoyed the other party to ask for a picture album from Shi Tao, and commented in the letter that "Shi Tao is a person, the Taste is lonely, and the poetry and paintings are like his people." Once the society gathers, it is expected that it will be difficult." Because he had already received an ink treasure given by Shi Tao on the collection and proudly showed it to his friends, everyone sighed that "the pen is enlightened, the words are extraordinary".
Part of "The Great Dizi Self-Written Sleeping Cow Diagram", Qing, Shi Tao, ink and pencil on paper, 23 cm in length and 47.2 cm in width, now in the Shanghai Museum.
In the twenty-eighth year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1689), Shi Tao was still wandering in Yangzhou, and he could not go north because of his shyness, but an opportunity to make a name for himself was sent to his eyes. In the spring of that year, the Kangxi Emperor made his second southern tour, stationed in Yangzhou in early March, and Shi Tao was included in the list of summons.
As early as the twenty-third year of Kangxi (1684), Shi Tao had the privilege of meeting the emperor at the Changgan Temple in Nanjing, and after 5 years, the Kangxi Emperor recognized Shi Tao at a glance in the crowd and called out his name in public, which made Shi Tao flattered, and after being excited, he wrote "Keguangling Pingshan Road to See the Driving Gongji", which was full of praise: "Shengcong suddenly saw the name, long live the grass and the eaves." "Two generations of grace and kindness are far away, and the heavens on earth know it." "Shame on the antelope without hanging horns, that can roar and say the true transmission." Shi Tao felt that his master, the monk Lu An, had been treated favorably by the Shunzhi Emperor this month, and now he was favored by the Kangxi Emperor, but unfortunately he did not have the Zen cultivation of his master, and he could not play the right opportunity in front of the Kangxi Emperor and promote the Dharma.
This summons strengthened Shi Tao's determination to go north, and before he set out from Yangzhou, he wrote a poem "Life Parallel" to recall the first half of his life of being forced to become a monk, traveling to the Tao, and living in Changgan Temple in Nanjing, but there was no hatred in his words, and he only used the phrase "After one and the chaos, the transcendent Fulfillment of Wu Zhen" was brushed over. Because at this time, he was full of hope for the future, and with the firm confidence of "seeking a long journey to become a gift, and expanding his ambitions in Bahong", he embarked on the trip to Yanjing.
Shi Tao's pursuit of the new dynasty was undisguised, and at the behest of Sima Zhenghushan of Xuanzhou, he drew a "Qing Map of the Haiyan River", which was signed as "The Head of the Nine Duns of the Yuanji Dynasty of the Minister" and claimed to be the new dynasty's minister. At this time, Shi Tao frequently showed a positive attitude, "I want to ask the royal family for appreciation, so that I can learn from the treasure painting." Unfortunately, this hilly mountain forest, which Shi Tao made great efforts to complete, did not become a stepping stone as desired, but became the reason for later critics to label it as "apostate". Objectively speaking, a person who grew up in the new world as a child is not a betrayal.
Shi Tao was not essentially a monk who had cut himself off from the world, he was circling between the rich and nobles in Beijing and Tianjin, making friends with calligraphy and painting, speaking with Buddhism, chaos for four years, and finally found nothing, and the dignitaries just thought that he was a monk who could paint. In the autumn and winter of the thirty-first year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1692), Shi Tao bought a boat to go south and reached Yangzhou through hardships, ending his cold career of drifting north. For the trip to Yanjing, he already had a very clear understanding, he was just "begging for bitter melon monks from all sides, and abstaining from all Hinayana practices." Fifty lonely walks alone, and a Zen disease is colder than ice." The reason why he chose Yangzhou in his later years was by no means a momentary brain fever, but after on-the-spot consideration and consideration.