Xu Wei
Pioneered expressive freehand ink wash painting
Xu Wei(徐渭) (March 12, 1521 – 1593) was from Shanyin County, Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang Province (now Shaoxing City, Zhejiang). His original courtesy name was Wenqing, later changed to Wenchang. He also went by various pseudonyms, including Qingteng Laoren, Qingteng Daoshi, Tianchi Sheng, Tianchi Shanren, Tianchi Yuyin, Jinlei, Jin Hui Shanren, Shanyin Buyi, Baixian Shanren, Enbi Nannong, Tiandan Shui, and Tianshui Yue (also written Shui Tian Yue). He was a mid-Ming dynasty Chinese writer, painter, playwright, and military strategist. At the age of twenty, Xu Wei was a student but repeatedly failed the provincial exams. He once worked as an aide for the Zhejiang governor Hu Zongxian, helping capture Xu Hai and lure Wang Zhi. After Hu Zongxian was imprisoned, Xu Wei, in a state of fear and despair, attempted suicide nine times without success. Later, he was imprisoned for killing his stepmother and sentenced to death but was saved by friends like Zhang Yuanbian after seven years. In the first year of the Wanli reign (1573), Xu Wei was released. After that, he wandered around Beijing, traveled south to Jinling, and north to Shanggu, often reflecting deeply on frontier hardships and singing songs of sorrow. In his later years, he endured poverty and illness, and even his thousands of books were sold off. He described himself as "a person of northern and southern styles." In the 21st year of the Wanli reign (1593), Xu Wei died in frustration at the age of seventy-three. Xu Wei was talented in many fields. He stood out in poetry, prose, drama, painting, and calligraphy. Together with Xie Jin and Yang Shen, he was called one of the "Three Talents of the Ming dynasty." His paintings absorbed the essence of previous masters while innovating, focusing on spirit rather than mere form. He excelled in landscapes, figures, flowers, birds, bamboo, and rocks, with flowers being his most outstanding work. He pioneered a unique style, greatly influencing later artists like the "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" and artists such as Bada Shanren and Shitao. He is considered the founder of China’s "splashed ink freehand painting" and the ancestor of the Qingteng School of painting. In calligraphy, he excelled in running and cursive scripts and was also skilled in poetry and prose, earning the reputation of "one man of the Ming, marvelous in every way." He could play the qin and understood music theory. He loved drama, and his work "Nan Ci Xu Lu" was the first theoretical treatise on southern opera in China. His collected works include "Xu Wenchang Ji" and "Xu Wenchang Yigao," and his plays include "Si Sheng Yuan" and "Ge Dai Xiao," among others. There is a modern annotated edition called "Xu Wei Ji."