The
Wiki articles on Xu Wei both English and Chinese are rather
simple. As I am interested in this artist I also checked the China version of
Wiki, Baidu-Baike. The article is profound. If you check the links you
can find a vast view of background of him and his works. Baidu-Baike is
Chinese only but Google awkward and often laughing (especially Chinese
-> English) translation available. I modified the Google translation
for reasonable reading. I also recently finished reading a Chinese book on his life and arts - 徐渭画专 ( 周时奋著).
Baidu-Baike - Google translation
Painting
Painting style.
The
ink -free freehand paintings of the Ming Dynasty developed rapidly, and
it was very popular,
represented by Xu Wei. With his unique talents, Xu Wei became a highly achieved freehand player in the Ming Dynasty.
(繪畫
繪畫風格
(徐渭筆下的南瓜、菊花圖，一氣呵成，驅墨如雲，氣勢逼人，同時又恰如其分的駕馭筆墨，輕重、濃淡、疏密、乾濕極富變化。)
"
Note by AAG
The followings are commonly used contrasts in Chinese paintings.
徐疾 slow and rapid
縱橫 vertical and horizontal
As ref. Wiki article - English version
Xu Wei (Chinese: 徐渭; pinyin: Xú Wèi, 1521–1593), also known as Qingteng Shanren (Chinese: 青藤山人; pinyin: Qīngténg Shānrén), was a Chinese painter, playwright, poet, and tea master during the Ming dynasty.
Xu's courtesy names were Wenqing (文清) and then later Wenchang (文長). His pseudonyms were "The Mountain-man of the Heavenly Pond" (天池山人 Tiānchí Shānrén), "Daoist of the Green Vine House" (青藤道士 Qīngténg Dàoshì) and "The Water and Moon of the Bureau's Farm" (署田水月 Shǔtián Shuǐ Yuè). Born in Shanyin (modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang), Xu was raised by a single mother who died when he was 14. At 21, he married a woman who died five years later. Though he passed the county civil examination at age 20, Xu was never able to pass the provincial civil service examinations, even after attempting it eight times.
Nevertheless, Xu was employed by Hu Zongxian, Supreme Commander of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Fujian coastal defense against the wokou pirates. Chrysanthemums and Bamboos (菊竹图) by Xu Wei, Liaoning Museum Xu Wei's tomb After General Hu was arrested and lost his job, Xu Wei feared a similar fate for himself. Xu became mentally distraught at this juncture, attempting to commit suicide nine times, such as by axing himself in the skull and drilling both of his ears. His mental imbalance led to his killing of his second wife Zhang (張氏) after becoming paranoid that she was having an affair. As a punishment for this murder, he was jailed for seven years until his friend Zhang Yuanbian (張元忭) from the Hanlin Academy managed to free him at age of 53. It is possible Xu Wei suffered from bipolar disorder, a condition actually recognized in China at this time. [citation needed] Xu spent the rest of his life painting, but with little financial success.
Literary career
Xu was a playwright as well. He produced the works Singing in Place of Screaming (simplified Chinese: 歌代啸; traditional Chinese: 歌代嘯; pinyin: gē dài xiào), as well as the treatise on southern drama Nanci Xulu (simplified Chinese: 南词叙录; traditional Chinese: 南詞敘錄; pinyin: Náncí Xùlù).
He wrote the four play cycle known as Four Cries of a Gibbon (simplified Chinese: 四声猿; traditional Chinese: 四聲猿; pinyin: Sì Shēng Yuán). This cycle consists of the following four plays:
- The Mad Drummer Plays The Yuyang Triple Rolls (Mi Heng) (simplified Chinese: 狂鼓史渔阳三弄; traditional Chinese: 狂鼓史漁陽三弄; pinyin: Kuáng gǔ shǐ yú yángsān nòng) - describes the crimes of Cao Cao
- Zen Master Yu Has a Dream of Cuixiang (simplified Chinese: 玉禅师翠乡一梦; traditional Chinese: 玉禅師翠鄉一夢; pinyin: Yù chánshī cuì xiāng yī mèng) - a Buddhist story
- The Female Mulan Joins the Army in Place of Her Father (simplified Chinese: 雌木兰替父从军; traditional Chinese: 雌木蘭替父從軍; pinyin: Cí mùlán tì fù cóngjūn) - describes Hua Mulan
- The Girl Graduate Rejects the Female Phoenix and Gains the Male Phoenix (simplified Chinese: 女状元辞凰得凤; traditional Chinese: 女狀元辭凰得鳳; pinyin: Nǚ zhuàngyuán cí huáng dé fèng) - describes Huang Chonggu
Xu's dramatic efforts often deal with women's themes.
The British orientalist Arthur Waley, in his introduction to the 1942 translation of Jin Ping Mei (金瓶梅) argued that Xu Wei was the author but later scholars have not been convinced.
Xu Wei was also a poet in shi style. Xu's collected works in 30 chapters exists with a commentary by the late Ming writer Yuan Hongdao.
Xu cared most about calligraphy and then poetry. A modern typeset edition of Xu Wei's collected works, Xu Wei ji, was published by the Zhonghua Publishing House in Beijing in 1983. Previously a 17th-century edition of his collected works known as the Xu Wenchang sanji was reproduced in Taiwan in 1968. In 1990 a book length study of Xu Wei concludes that Xu Wei can be seen as a “scholar in cotton clothes” or buyi wenren (布衣文人), a scholar who failed the civil service examination, yet became active in the realm of literature.
Many such individuals appeared in the late 16th and early 17th centuries and attached themselves to officials or became independent in late Ming China. Painting style Xu Wei used "splattered ink [that] utilises considerable quantities of ink that are practically poured onto the painting surface".
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嘉靖帝
Reign: May 1521 – January 1567
Known for his intelligence, he however neglected his official duties. He faced criticism for his reliance on corrupt officials, his cruelty and promiscuity, the latter of which contributed to the Palace plot of Renyin year. He had to face several external challenges such as Mongol harassment and pirate attacks. His pursuit of Taoist practices and alchemy strained the government financially and after a long reign, he died, contributing to the decline of the dynasty.
Longqing Emperor
隆慶帝
Reign: February 1567 – July 1572
After the death of the Jiajing Emperor, the Longqing Emperor inherited a country in disarray after years of mismanagement and corruption. Realizing the depth of chaos his father's long reign had caused, the Longqing Emperor set about reforming the government by re-employing talented officials previously banished by his father, such as Hai Rui. He also purged the government of corrupt officials namely Daoist priests whom the Jiajing Emperor had favoured in the hope of improving the situation in the empire. Furthermore, the Longqing Emperor restarted trade with other empires in Europe, Africa and other parts of Asia. Territorial security was reinforced through the appointment of several generals to patrol both land and sea borders. This included the fortification of seaports along the Zhejiang and Fujian coast to deter pirates, a constant nuisance during the Jiajing Emperor's reign. The Longqing Emperor also repulsed the Mongol army of Altan Khan, who had penetrated the Great Wall and reached as far as Beijing. A peace treaty to trade horses for silk was signed with the Mongols shortly thereafter.
Wanli Emperor
萬曆帝
Reign: July 1572 – August 1620
The Wanli Emperor (September 1563 – August 1620), personal name Zhu Yijun (Chinese: 朱翊鈞; pinyin: Zhū Yìjūn), art name Yuzhai (禹齋), was the 14th emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1572 to 1620. "Wanli", the era name of his reign, literally means "ten thousand calendars". He was the third son of the Longqing Emperor. His reign of 48 years (1572–1620) was the longest among all the Ming dynasty emperors[1] and it witnessed several successes in his early and middle reign, followed by the decline of the dynasty as the emperor withdrew from his active role in government around 1600.
