Xu Beihong , Chinese art "Display giant, education giant" , a century-old master of the painting world in modern China, is as famous as Qi Baishi and Zhang Daqian and is known as the "three horses" of the modern Chinese painting world.
Xu Beihong has always been famous for his good at drawing animals, especially the horses he wrote are vivid and vivid, with a lifelike look, and every stroke is amazing.
However, there is a Chinese saying that "a hero is sad to pass the beauty", and this sentence was indeed fulfilled in Xu Beihong. Although Xu Beihong, who came from a poor family, has been smooth sailing on the road of artistic creation, his private love life is full of ups and downs.
Xu Beihong had three marriages in his life, and among these three women, the most tragic one was his first wife, Xu. In fact, Xu Beihong not only hated Xu very much, but even deliberately gave their son a very unlucky name - Jiesheng.
kalpas, kalpas, and kalpas. Unfortunately, every word of this name came true 7 years later.
So why did Xu Beihong hate his first wife Xu so much? And what kind of story happened between him and his other wives?
Tragic feudal marriage
Xu Beihong, whose original name is Xu Shoukang, was born in 1895 in a poor village in Qitingqiao Town, Jiangsu Province. Fortunately, Xu Beihong's father Xu Dazhang was good at poetry and calligraphy and seal carving, so he usually made a living by painting and carving pictures. Although his income was small, he could barely maintain his family's benefits.
Influenced by his father, Xu Beihong began to read the Four Books and Five Classics at the age of 6, and at the age of 9, he officially began to learn basic skills such as color tuning and color setting with his father. By the time Xu Beihong was 10 years old, he was able to complete color filling and color filling, showing his extremely high talent for painting.
Unfortunately, when Xu Beihong was 13 years old, his hometown was flooded by floods. In order to help his family, his father took the young Xu Beihong out to make a living, traveling between townships and paintings.
Artist experience provides Xu Beihong with a rare opportunity to exercise. In just a few years, he has been able to skillfully draw portraits and write couplets for people, and his knowledge and vision are also improving.
Later, due to long-term fatigue, Xu Beihong's father Xu Dazhang's physical condition was getting worse and worse every day, and as the eldest son in the family, the burden of supporting the family fell on Xu Beihong alone.
17 years old, in order to make money to support his family, he was already well-known in the local area and also served as a teacher at three schools including Shiqi Primary School, Junior Normal School, and Pengcheng Middle School. He was very busy every day.
The shackles of life made Xu Beihong feel the coldness of the world, like a roar of geese, struggling all the time but helpless, so he changed his name to Xu Beihong.
As he grew older, Xu Beihong began to have his own ideas. He didn't want to be a young rural painter in his life like his father, so he quit his school teaching job and wanted to go out and explore to increase his knowledge.
Just like that, Xu Beihong, who was under 18 years old, came to the most prosperous Shanghai at that time alone, wanting to learn from his masters in big cities and absorb new art knowledge.
Unfortunately, not long after Xu Beihong arrived in Shanghai, he received a letter from his father who was seriously ill at home. In desperation, he had to go back to his hometown again.
In that era, inheriting the family line was the top priority in the family, and the only explanation from the father on the hospital bed to his son was to see his son get married as soon as possible during his lifetime.
At this time, Xu Beihong felt ten thousand unwilling in his heart. He hated the bondage, and even more hated the feudal marriage of the matchmaker's orders. But looking at his father who was already short of time, Xu Beihong did not dare to disobey his wishes, and had no choice but to marry a woman under the arrangement of his family.
A marriage without love is destined to be miserable. Xu Beihong is very disgusted with his first wife and has never mentioned it too much. Later generations do not even know what her surname is, so he can only call her Xu.
After marrying Xu, Xu Beihong still disliked her very much.
Like most oppressed feudal women at that time, Xu naturally knew her husband's attitude towards him. But facing her husband who doesn't love her, this pitiful and kind woman never complains. She works hard and takes care of her seriously ill father-in-law with all her heart, hoping to one day impress Xu Beihong.
A year later, his wife Xu successfully gave birth to a son for him. However, the birth of his son did not change Xu Beihong's indifferent attitude towards Xu, and he didn't even have much emotion for his son. Instead, he gave him a very unlucky name, called " Jiao Sheng ".
Anyone with a discerning eye can hear that Xu Beihong's name for the child means that Xu's family is a disaster for him, and this child is the child born in the disaster.
At this time, Xu Beihong's father couldn't stand it anymore. He finally welcomed his eldest grandson. How could he take the name of "Ji Sheng"? It has a bad meaning, so he changed his name to "Ji Sheng", hoping that the child can bring good luck to the whole family and grow up healthily.
Since "Ji Sheng" was born, Xu Beihong has been rushing to Shanghai again as if he had completed his task, pursuing his favorite painting career.
At this time, the simple and kind Xu took the child alone and waited for her husband's return at home. During this period, Xu also wrote letters to Xu Beihong many times and sent photos of the child, but Xu did not know that Xu Beihong had already had a new love.
And this new love is Xu Beihong's second wife Jiang Biwei .
Eloped with Jiang Biwei in Japan
Jiang Biwei is three years younger than Xu Beihong. He was born in Yixing in 1898. Unlike Xu Beihong, who was born in poverty, the Jiang family was a prominent family in Yixing. Therefore, in that era when family marriages were more prevalent, Jiang Biwei was decided by her father when she was 13 years old and made a marriage with the Cha family in Suzhou.
As mentioned earlier, Xu Beihong taught at Yixing Women's College in early years. It was at that time that he met Jiang Biwei's uncle Jiang Zhaolan. When Xu Beihong was 22 years old, he met Jiang Biwei, who was only 19 years old under the introduction of Jiang Zhaolan.
Facing this lady with generous conversation and generous temperament, Xu Beihong was soon deeply attracted by Jiang Biwei, and Jiang Biwei often compared the talented young man in front of her with her fiancé, and gradually captured her heart by Xu Beihong. The two young people were in love and soon fell in love.
Not only did Xu Beihong have a family, but Jiang Biwei also had a six-year engagement with the Cha family, so the relationship between the two was shameful at the time.
But Jiang Biwei is a woman who dares to love and hate. At this time, she had no choice but to care about any family and engagement. She was determined to marry the man in front of her. After some discussions with , Jiang Biwei made a bold decision: to regret marrying the Cha family, and follow Xu Beihong to his hometown to persuade Xu to divorce.
What the two of them did not expect was that the Cha family's engagement was successfully terminated, but Xu, who has always been cowardly and obedient, would rather die than sign the divorce agreement .
Seeing that her husband who had not returned for many years brought another woman home and was determined to divorce him, Xu roared like crazy, pushing Jiang Biwei to prevent her from entering her home, as if she wanted to vent all the grievances she had suffered over the past few years.
Yes, she needs to vent. In the past few years since she got married to Xu Beihong, she has been obeying her duties and trying hard to play the role of a wife. Even though she knew that her husband didn't like her and hated her, she still didn't complain. She did her best to do her own duties and served Xu Beihong's sick father until he passed away.
After Xu Beihong went to Shanghai, she raised her child alone and waited for her husband's return. She always hoped that one day her love would move her husband and that her children would wait for her father's care. Unexpectedly, after waiting for many years, what she waited for was betrayal.
At this time, Xu Beihong saw that Xu did not agree to the divorce, so he decided to take Jiang Biwei to Japan. Xu was completely desperate, and her only comfort was her son. Unfortunately, when her son was 7 years old, he suddenly had smallpox and died because he did not treat him in time.
kalpa, born in disaster, born in disaster, Xu Beihong obtained this name for his son, and every word came true after seven years. After his son passed away, Xu had no news. At this time, Xu Beihong probably did not feel sad at all, and only cared about living in Japan with Jiang Biwei.
Indeed, after first arriving in Japan, Xu Beihong and Jiang Biwei lived a very happy life. No one here knew them, and they could finally be together openly. Xu Beihong also earned a lot of money by teaching by painting.
However, the sweet days didn't take long, and soon the two soon had differences due to some trivial matters. Jiang Biwei was born in a wealthy family in Yixing and was spoiled since she was a child and was loved by the people around her, so in her eyes, her husband should take good care of herself.
But as she got along slowly, she found that Xu Beihong's love for art was far beyond her, so she was full of grievances and quarreled with Xu Beihong many times over this matter.
After a long time, the two people who quarreled constantly were inevitably tired of each other, but they were in a foreign country and needed to support each other, so life was shaky and accommodated each other.
Later, in order to further study, Xu Beihong decided to take Jiang Biwei to study in Paris, France, and hoped that under the influence of that artistic city, Jiang Biwei could fall in love with art and become a like-minded soul mate with him.
After arriving in Paris, Xu Beihong continued to study the art major he loved, while Jiang Biwei began to learn music. In this way, the two were busy with each other's studies, encouraged and supported each other, and lived the enviable life of a fairy couple again.
I thought a sweet life would continue like this, but at a European cocktail party in 1921, Jiang Biwei unexpectedly met another handsome young painter, Zhang Daofan.
Compared with Xu Beihong, who regards art as heavier than his own life, Zhang Daofan has more tenderness and delicacy. He tried his best to express his love to Jiang Biwei. Faced with Zhang Daofan's fierce attack, Jiang Biwei's long-closed heart soon became shaken again.
She was very entangled and hesitant during that time, and even had more yearning for Zhang Daofan who came from behind, but reason still defeated his emotions. Jiang Biwei replied to Zhang Daofan a long letter, which was very rational in the letter saying that she was Xu Beihong's wife and advised Zhang Daofan to hope that she could forget her as soon as possible.
I thought that if I broke off the contact with Zhang Daofan, I would be able to stay with my husband for the rest of my life, but what happened next made Jiang Biwei completely cut off her thoughts about Xu Beihong.
In 1930, after Xu Beihong returned to China, he taught art at Nanjing Central University. Among his many students, there was a talented auditor named Sun Duoci , which was very popular with Xu Beihong.
At that time, Sun Duoci was only 18 years old. In an accidental class, Sun Duoci was attracted by Xu Beihong's talent, so he wanted to inspire to apply for Nanjing Central University, and in July 1931, he officially became a disciple under Xu Beihong's name.
Among the many disciples, Sun Duoci was favored by Xu Beihong, and even often asked her to her home to make portraits for her. After a while, different feelings arose between teachers and students.
Jiang Biwei saw something wrong with her husband, and directly asked Xu Beihong, but Xu Beihong said that she just liked Sun Duoci's talent and wanted to cultivate her into a useful talent.
But the woman's intuition told Jiang Biwei that the relationship between her husband and Sun Duoci is definitely not a pure teacher-student relationship!
Later, Xu Beihong simply stopped hiding it, and even opened up with Sun Duoci on campus to play. Jiang Biwei, who could not bear it, asked her husband to immediately cut off relations with Sun Duoci, but what she got was Xu Beihong's silent response.
At this time, Jiang Biwei was heartbroken and felt that there had been a gap between the couple's relationship, so she separated from Xu Beihong and began to express her feelings to her former suitor Zhang Daofan.
After separating from Jiang Biwei, due to the obstruction of his parents, Sun Duoci finally failed to marry Xu Beihong, but married a man named Xu Shaodi .
Even though he was already a wife, Sun Duoci's longing for Xu Beihong has not been reduced to half of it. It is said that after learning about Xu Beihong's death, Sun Duoci fainted from crying. Later, he mourned Xu Beihong for three years to express his love but not regret.
and Liao Jingwen The Love of Forgetfulness
After separation from Sun Duoci, Xu Beihong lived a single life for several years, and until 1942, he met his favorite person again, his third wife, Liao Jingwen.
Liao Jingwen and Xu Beihong met for the first time in an interview at the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts Library . At that time, Liao Jingwen was only 19 years old, while Xu Beihong was 47 years old.
At this time, Liao Jingwen probably never thought that he would have an intersection with this talented man in the future and marry this man who was 28 years older than him.
Later, Liao Jingwen successfully passed the interview at the college library and helped Mr. Xu Beihong sort out the painting case in his spare time. Seeing that the man who was nearly fifty years old in front of him still had to sew clothes and nail buttons by himself, he felt a sense of pity in his heart.
After a period of time, the two became attached to each other and were about to enter the palace of marriage, but at this time, Xu Beihong's former wife Jiang Biwei came to cause trouble again.
After learning about the deeds between Liao Jingwen and Xu Beihong, Jiang Biwei, who was far away in Chongqing, wrote letters to Liao Jingwen's sister and father, saying that she and Xu Beihong have not officially divorced, and Liao Jingwen is destroying their family as a third party.
Liao Jingwen's father was furious when he learned about this and said that it would never be possible to agree to the marriage between Liao Jingwen and Xu Beihong. For this reason, Liao Jingwen cried every day. In the end, his father could not resist her, so he agreed to the marriage between her and Xu.
In order to give Liao Jingwen a formal title, before the two held their wedding, Xu Beihong also specially published a statement in the newspaper saying that he and Ms. Jiang Biwei had been separated for many years and it was difficult to reunite, so he had cut off the relationship between husband and wife since then.
After seeing this statement, Jiang Biwei felt that she had lost all her face, so she offered a sky-high divorce condition, namely:
Ask Xu Beihong 1 million yuan in cash, 40 ancient paintings, plus 100 Xu Beihong's own works. In addition, Xu Beihong must pay half of her monthly income in the future as support for her children.
In order to raise all these, Xu Beihong sold almost all his belongings, so that the new home where he married Liao Jingwen was very simple. But even so, the two of them lived a very happy and happy life after marriage. Xu Beihong said to the public more than once:
"I really found the person I love!"
However, the two had been married for a few years. In September 1953, Xu Beihong suffered a sudden cerebral hemorrhage when attending a meeting in Beijing. After learning the news, Liao Jingwen immediately rushed to the hospital and stayed by his side for a few days, calling out his name at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately, she failed to awaken her husband in the end.
Xu Beihong walked too fast and didn't even leave any last words. While dressing him, his wife Liao Jingwen accidentally touched three pieces of candy in his pocket. Liao Jingwen knew that this must be what Xu Beihong couldn't bear to eat at the banquet, so he stayed and prepared to bring her and her two children when he went home...
Yes! Xu Beihong loved his and Liao Jingwen's two children, but he never got such a little "catastrophe" of fatherly love.
When Xu Beihong passed away, Liao Jingwen was only 30 years old. Logically speaking, the large number of works left by Xu before were enough to ensure that the mother and son had no worries about food and clothing in the future. However, Liao Jingwen donated all Xu Beihong herself and her collection of calligraphy and painting works to the country, totaling more than 2,000. Not only that, she also donated her house as the Xu Beihong Memorial Hall.
In the decades since then, Liao Jingwen never left the memorial hall again. She devoted her second half of her life to the protection, publicity and research of Xu Beihong's art.
Conclusion
Review of Xu Beihong's three marriages, the second wife Jiang Biwei and the third wife Liao Jingwen have both received his sincere love, but only his first wife Xu is the most tragic.
was forced to marry Xu Beihong due to her parents' orders, but she never got the love of her husband in her life, and even her own son was disgusted, and she was born in the disaster. It has to be said that for Xu and Jiesheng, Xu Beihong did have too much debt!
