When it comes to Han Xizai, many people may not know who he is, but I believe many people have heard of "Han Xizai's Night Banquet", one of China's top ten famous paintings handed down from generation to generation.
Han Xizai, the protagonist of this picture, served as an official in the Southern Tang Dynasty for 33 years, and successively served as the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Minister of the Ministry of War. In order to avoid Li Yu's suspicion, Han Xizai, who held a high official position, often had banquets every night and indulged in sex with his guests. But Li Yu was still worried about him, so he sent Gu Hongzhong and Zhou Wenju, "waiting orders" from the art academy, to his home to secretly spy on Han Xizai's activities, and ordered them to faithfully paint everything they saw and show it to him. .
Of course Han Xizai understood their purpose of coming, and deliberately put on a hearty performance in a state of being indifferent to current affairs, indulging in singing and dancing, and being drunk and dreaming. Gu Hongzhong relied on his quick observation and amazing memory to memorize the night banquet held by Han Xizai at home. He immediately started painting after returning. In the scroll, although Han Xizai was in a wild and carefree manner, he always had his eyebrows furrowed and could not hide it. Worried.
After Li Yu saw this painting, he temporarily let Han Xizai and others go, but a national treasure painting "Han Xizai's Night Banquet" was passed down because of this. The lines of this long scroll are accurate and smooth, the workmanship is delicate and agile, and it is full of expressive power. The coloring is elegant, rich in layers and has a unique charm.
Han Xizai was erudite and good at writing. He was a celebrity of the generation who had a close relationship with Li Yu, the later leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty. He wrote more than 50 articles such as "Settlement Collection", "Proposed Collection" (lost) and "Maxims". Both the king and the minister are good at writing, love the exquisite and beautiful things in the world, enjoy every ray of happiness, and cannot tolerate a trace of vulgarity. Their daily life is so elegant that it is a mess.
Han Xizai was uninhibited and arrogant. Because the article was so famous, many scholars at that time sent their articles to Han Xizai's house for advice. Whenever Han Xizai read poor writing, he would ask his maid to light mugwort and smoke it to remove the stench of his writing.
At that time, his immediate boss was called Song Qiqiu, and he was appointed as the left and right servant Sheping Zhangshi, which was equivalent to the prime minister. Qiqiu of the Song Dynasty was also well-known in the court and the public in literature. Later, he retired to Jiuhua Mountain and was named "Mr. Jiuhua" and "Qingyang Gong". And even for such a great man, his character and writing were not in Han Xizai's eyes.
Song Qiqiu often wrote epitaphs for people because of his gorgeous articles. Han Xizai’s official script was unique at that time, so every article written by Song Qiqiu was handed over to Han Xizai to copy. Every time Han Xizai copied Song Qiqiu's epitaphs, he stuffed his nostrils with paper. Someone asked why? He replied: "The writing is filthy and smelly."
In 970 AD, the Northern Song Dynasty opened its treasure Three years later, in this year, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin sent Pan Mei to lead an army to attack the Southern Tang Dynasty. Li Yu's Southern Tang regime was completely surrounded by the Song army and was in turmoil. It was also this year that Han Xizai passed away at the age of sixty-nine.
After Han Xizai passed away, Li Yu felt sorry for him and gave him the post of Pingzhangshi (prime minister), with the posthumous title "Wen Jing", which was already an excellent posthumous title in ancient times. He also asked Xu Xuan, another literary master, to write a sentimental epitaph for Han Xizai. "He is good at listening and dancing, good at calligraphy and painting. He is elegant and elegant, and he sees far and near." This is Xu Xuan's most penetrating evaluation of Han Xizai. Xu Xuan was fond of incense. Whenever the moon was clear and bright, he would sit quietly in the yard and burn incense to cultivate his mind with the moon, which was called "incense with the moon." Han Xizai's love of fragrance is no less than that of Xu Xuan. The difference is that Xu Xuan burned incense with the moon, while Han Xizai burned incense with the flowers.
Regarding the way of burning incense, Han Xizai once said a famous saying: "Flowers should be fragrant, so burning incense on flowers will have harmonious flavors, which is indescribable. Mignonette is suitable for borneol, and fermented wine is suitable for sinking into water. , Orchids are suitable for the four wonders, smiles are suitable for musk deer, and wormwood is suitable for sandalwood."
Han Xizai liked elegance throughout his life and was not kitsch. Although his political ambitions were not realized, his literary attainments and life interest were both achieved. The pinnacle of life. His indulgent singing and dancing, and his habit of incense are also reflected in a famous painting "Han Xizai's Night Banquet" by Gu Hongzhong.