Ming Xu Wei Bai Yan Poem Scroll - Selections of Calligraphy Through the Ages

Author: Wang Ziqiang
Responsibility:
Publisher: Xiling Press
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Xu Wei (1521-1593) was an outstanding Ming Dynasty painter, calligrapher, and litterateur. His original name was Wenqing, later changed to Wenchang, and he was also known as Tianchi, Qingteng Dao Ren, Tian Shu Yue, etc. He was from Shanyin, Zhejiang (now Shaoxing). From a young age, he was intelligent and quick-witted, with a sharp literary mind. Moreover, he had great ambitions. He participated in the anti-Japanese struggles along the southeastern coast during the Jiajing era and opposed the powerful official Yan Song. His life was full of hardships, and he could be described as "a vagrant in the world." He was imprisoned for seven or eight years. After his release, he was impoverished and suffering from illness, making a living by selling poetry, prose, and paintings. He lived a life of misfortune. In middle age, he learned painting, inheriting the brushwork of Liang Kai's simplified style and the freehand floral painting techniques of Lin Liang and Shen Zhou, etc. Therefore, he was particularly skilled in ink and wash flowers, with unrestrained brushwork. His depictions of withered chrysanthemums and lotuses were full of ink, yet simple and elegant, with a unique charm. He also painted landscapes and figures, with unrestrained and unconstrained compositions. His brushwork became even more and concise, combining dry, wet, and broken strokes, creating a fresh and unrestrained style, forming the "Qingteng Painting School" on his own. He held great importance for his calligraphy. He claimed, "My calligraphy is four, poetry is two, prose is three, and painting is four." Yuan Hongdao and others praised his calligraphy as "full of vigor," "with a bold and graceful charm," and "superior to Wang Yayi and Wen Zhengzhong." His painting "Yellow Clam Figure" is steep and vigorous, vividly depicting the late autumn atmosphere of crabs crawling and autumn lotuses withering. Many of his works have been passed down to this day. His works include: "Four Sounds of the Monkey," "Record of Southern Opera," "Collected Works of Xu Wenlong," "Collected Works of Xu Wenlong," etc.