Xu Wei

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Xu.

Xú Wèi (徐渭) (1521 - 1593) was a Ming Chinese painter famed for his rapid and expressive strokes. Revolutionary for its time, his painting style influenced and inspired countless subsequent painters, such as Zhu Da, the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, and the modern master Qi Baishi, who once exclaimed in a poem that "How I wish to be born 300 years earlier so I could grind ink blocks and prepare papers for Green Vine (Xu's sobriquet)" (恨不生三百年前，為青藤磨墨理紙). Despites his posthumous recognition, Xu was not successful in life and died in poverty after the murder of his third wife and several attempts at suicide.

• Courtesy names: Wenqing (文清), then Wenchang (文長)
• Sobriquets:
  • The Mountain-man of Heavenly Pond (天池山人 Tiānchí Shānrén)
  • The Resident of the Green Vine House (青藤居士 Qīngténg Jūshì)
  • The Water and Moon of the Bureau's Farm (署田水月 Shǔtián Shuǐ Yuè).

Born in Shanying District (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province), Xu was raised by a single mother who died when he was 14. At 21, he married Pan-shi (潘氏), who died five years later. Xu attempted to pass the civil service examinations eight times, although he never succeeded. Nevertheless, Xu was employed by Hu Zongxian (胡宗憲), Supreme Commander of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Fujian coastal defense against the wokou (倭寇) pirates.

After Hu was arrested for being related to Yan Song and committed suicide, Xu also attempted to commit suicide nine times, such as by axeing himself in the skull and drilling both of his ears. He also tried to kill his wife Zhang-shi (張氏) after becoming paranoid that she was having an affair. For his murder, he was jailed for seven years until his friend Zhang Yuanbian (張元忭) from the Hanlin Imperial Academy managed to get him out at the age of 53.

Xu spent the rest of his life painting, but with little financial success. However, his paintings have been highly sought after in modern times.

In addition to being a painter, Xu was a relatively unknown playwright, writing the following plays:

• Mulan, a woman (雌木蘭 Ci Mulan): describes Hua Mulan
• The Woman Best-Scholar (女狀元 Nüzhuangyuan): The adventures of the intelligent Huang Chongjia (黃崇嘏)
• The History of the Mad Drum (狂鼓史 Kuanggu Shi): crimes of Cao Cao
• The Dream of the Jade Town (翠鄉夢 Cuixiang Meng): a Buddhist story