What's life like in Tang Bohu?

So, what is the real Tang Bohu like in history?

It can be described in the following words: declining family background, brilliant talent, ill-fated, dying and down.

Tang Yin, born 1470, was born in Wuxian County, Suzhou, South Zhili (now Suzhou, Jiangsu). He was a famous painter, poet and calligrapher in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. He was also called "Four Talents in Wuzhong" with Suzhou people Zhu Zhishan, Wen Zhiming and Xu Zhenqing (Xu Xiake's great-grandfather).

Tang Bohu's greatest achievement is in poetry and painting. In the movie "Tong Pak Hu Dian Qiu Xiang", it is said that "poetry and painting are absolutely unique". This statement is very appropriate, especially because most of his paintings are now preserved in Taipei Museum, scattered all over the world, and have become rare treasures with great value. As early as 20 13, Tang Bohu's vertical axis "Lushan Waterfall View" started at $300 million. After 120 rounds of bidding, it was finally sold at a sky-high price of 590 million US dollars (about 3.6 billion yuan). This is the highest-priced China painter I know, which proves his accomplishments in painting and calligraphy.

"Lushan Mountain Waterfall" Tang Yin

In addition to viewing waterfalls on Lushan Mountain, there are many masterpieces handed down from ancient times, such as Lonely Sunset Red, Peach Blossom Cottage, Spring Mountain Companion and Autumn Fan.

Tang Yin, a lonely sunset.

Just like in the movies, Tang Bohu is also a poet, the most famous of which is Song of the Peach Blossom Temple:

Taohuawu Taohua Temple, Taohuaguan Taohuaxian;

Peach Fairy cultivates peach trees, picks them and drinks them.

When I wake up, I just sit in front of the flowers, and when I am drunk, I come to sleep under the flowers;

Half awake and half drunk day after day, flowers bloom year after year.

I would rather die of old age than bow before horses and chariots;

Cars and horses are rich and interesting, and hops are poor.

If wealth is compared with the poor, one is in peace and the other is in heaven;

If you compare poverty to horses and chariots, he will have to drive away my leisure.

Others laugh that I am too crazy, and I laugh that others can't see through it;

There are no graves of Hao Jie in Wuling, no flowers, no wine, and no hoes to plow the fields.

Taohua Temple (picturesque)

Tang Bohu was born in a bureaucratic family, and he worked as a local official for more than three generations. But by his father's generation, his family had declined, and his father was the owner of a local pub. He can only be regarded as a rich boy in Suzhou, not the local elite.

Tang Bohu was very clever since he was a child, and his father hoped that he could study and become famous. Coupled with ancestral genes, Tang Bohu was not only a super scholar, but also made rapid progress in painting, poetry and calligraphy at the age of 65,438+05, and soon became a local celebrity, making many local celebrities, including Zhu Zhishan, Wen Zhiming and Xu Zhenqing.

In feudal times, imperial examinations were almost the only way to choose officials. As long as you do well in the exam, your career will be bright. According to Tang Bohu's intelligence and his later achievements, it is a piece of cake to gain fame and fortune.

However, there are unexpected events in the sky, and nine times out of ten life is not satisfactory. When Tang Bohu was 24 years old, his family suddenly changed dramatically. In a short period of one or two years, his father, mother, wife and son died one after another, and his sister committed suicide due to family changes, leaving only him and his younger brother Tang Shen.

The sudden family changes and the death of five relatives have dealt a great blow to Tang Bohu's body and mind. Without the support of his family, Tang Bohu, who was bent on becoming famous, lost her financial resources and once became very negative. It was under the persuasion of his good friend Zhu Zhishan that he once again got up the courage to continue his life and put his mind on his studies.

A few years later, at the age of 28, Tang Bohu won the first place (Xie Yuan) after having obtained the provincial examination in Tianfu, which is equivalent to the first place in several provinces now, so Tang Bohu is also called "Cousin Courtyard".

From then on, Tang Bohu became more famous. According to this result, he can at least be admitted to the scholar's examination, and he is likely to become a senior official or local official of the central government in the future. It can be said that the future is boundless, and some local officials and celebrities have made friends with him.

The image of prostitutes in Tang Yin's Wang Shu Palace

Unexpectedly, there is a bigger change waiting for him ahead-the examination room fraud case.

After passing the provincial examination, I will take the examination in the second year. At the age of 29, Tang Bohu went to Beijing to take the most important exam-the college entrance examination. On the way to take the exam, he met Xu Jing, a native of Jiangyin, and a rich boy who went to take the exam together. It happened that the examiner that year was called Cheng. Cheng was the supernatural power of the Ming Dynasty, and Kong Rong, a prodigy of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was the supernatural power of the Tang Dynasty. His father was a minister of war, and was specially recruited to study in imperial academy at the age of 10. Later, he was admitted to imperial academy and took the second place, that is, the second place in the country. He was the youngest among the 350 Jinshi in the same list.

In this year's senior high school entrance examination, the topic of success is quite unpopular. Of all the people who took the exam, only Tang Bohu and Xu Jing got it right, which is almost unprecedented in the history exam. In other words, if Tang Bohu hadn't cheated, he would probably have been the top scholar in that year, that is to say, Xu Jing might be the second in the country.

However, this result is unacceptable to other students, and some of them report cheating in the exam. As a result, Cheng was arrested. Under torture, he admitted that he had bribed Cheng's servants, got the test questions and answered them in advance, so they got the best results.

This is the famous "Xu Jingke case".

"Autumn Fan Map" Tang Yin

However, there are different opinions about the details of this cheating case, but it is true that Tang Bohu was implicated.

Tang Bohu was sentenced to life as an official, and only gave him a petty official position in a remote area, which was not formally compiled by the system. For Tang Bohu, he has been studying hard in the cold window for more than 20 years, and all his hopes have been dashed.

Since then, the world has lost a mediocre civil servant and gained a great painter.

Tang Bohu is a noble scholar. He refused the arrangement of the organization and chose to return to his hometown. Since then, he has been down and out, selling calligraphy and painting for the rest of his life.

After returning home, his second wife left him, and his younger brother also offered to leave him.

Desperate Tang Bohu, never cared!

He chose to drink, indulge in debauchery and paint poems to polish time.

Tang Yin's calligraphy

Because of his reputation, he attracted the attention of others. King Zhu of Ning was the imperial clan of Ming Dynasty, so he took him to his side to do things for himself. Tang Bohu, down and out, rekindled hope. He left Suzhou to work in Ningwangfu, Jiangxi Province, but soon found that Wang Ning was going to rebel, so Tang Bohu pretended to be crazy and even took off his clothes and streaked in the street to prove that he was a basket case.

Tang Bohu escaped from Ningwangfu by playing the fool and returned to Suzhou to continue his poor life.

During this period, he made a living by selling calligraphy and painting.

He bought a small piece of land in Taohuawu, Suzhou, and built a Taohuaan, which became his last home and created the famous Taohuaan song here.

According to folklore, at the age of 36, Tang Bohu met a famous prostitute, Shen nine niang, on a romantic occasion, and this confidante accompanied him all his life.

1524, talented scholar Tang Bohu died at the age of 54.

Tang Bohu left his last poem before he died:

Back from the dead, it's over. What's wrong with dying in hell?

Dead people are almost the same as dead people, so you should only wander in a foreign land.

When he died, he had no family, and his friend Zhu Zhishan paid for his funeral.