Classic Paintings Library of Famous Chinese Painters. Ancient Part. Zheng Banqiao

Author: Jia Dejiang, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: Zheng Banqiao (1963-1765), styled Xie, known as Ke Rou, and titled Qiaoqiao. He was a native of Xinghua County, Yangzhou Prefecture. He was born into a family of intellectuals and was raised by a wet nurse after losing his mother in childhood. His father, Jia Ben (styled Li An), was a county scholar who taught numerous students at home: "Banqiao learned from his father since childhood and had no other teachers"（《Banqiao's Self-Description》). Around the age of 16, he studied poetry under Lu Zhen (styled Zhongtu) from his hometown and was deeply influenced by him. Around his mid-twenties, due to having a wife and children, his aging father, and the need to earn a living, he established a private school in Jiangcun (also known as Xicun) in Zhenzhou, engaging in the life of a teacher for four years, and formed deep friendships with some scholars, elderly farmers, wine merchants, and officials in the area. At this time, his life was extremely difficult, and he struggled to make ends meet. Around the age of 30, he came to the bustling city of Yangzhou and lived as an artist, selling calligraphy and paintings for a living. Zheng Banqiao was skilled in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, excelling particularly in depicting orchids, bamboo, rocks, and occasionally painting plum blossoms and ancient pines. He was not only a renowned painter but also an outstanding realist poet. His calligraphy was innovative and unique, forming its own distinct style, considered a rare treasure of the era. Thus, it was aptly said of him that he excelled in "three perfections—poetry, calligraphy, and painting," and the praise was well-deserved.