The True Painter Li Weiqing Author: Zhang Erbin I know Mr. Li Weiqing’s name in the early 1960s from the enamel washbasins, tea jars, and thermos shells sold in department stores. It is common to see Qi Baishi’s shrimp, Xu Beihong’s horse, Chen Banding and Bai Xia printed on them.

Li Weiqing's flower and bird paintings.

I just learned that Li Weiqing is a painter in Nanjing.

At that time, "Baixia Li Weiqing" became a household name in Nanjing. This is how Li Weiqing and his traditional Chinese painting art entered the homes of ordinary people.

Li Weiqing has experienced twists and turns, ups and downs, and even some legends.

He is an old Nanjing native and comes from a scholarly family. He has been fond of calligraphy and painting since he was a child. At the age of 9, he was taught by the famous late Qing Dynasty master Shi Chijun. Later, he became a disciple of the famous master Huang Xueming. He also studied under famous masters such as Liang Yuehe, Xiao Junxian, Xie Gongzhan, and Ma Geli.

He was engaged in postal statistics and accounting work in his early years. As early as 1935, he drafted and presided over the formulation of China's first postal law. At the same time, he served as the national director of postal and telecommunications. He was a well-known expert and was completely interested in painting as a hobby.

After liberation and before the establishment of the Academy of Painting, Li Weiqing, like most painters, was a "part-time" "remnant" painter. Some were teachers, such as Zhao Lianghan and Zhang Zhengyin; some were freelancers, such as Xu Gongze and Hu Guoshi; and some were

Bank employees, owners, civil servants, such as Wang Jingshan, Zhao Zhenyun, etc.

Of course, they are all cultural figures with status and status, and Li Weiqing is not only proficient in his major, but also fluent in French and English, good at calligraphy and painting, and well versed in painting history and painting theory.

He has published several treatises on "Talking about Chinese Painting" and "Chinese Painting Method" in newspapers and periodicals. He once held an art exhibition with Huang Junbi in Chongqing and became famous for a while.

Mr. Hu Xiaoshi, a famous professor, said that his works are "strongly written and as squandering as Zhao Beiweng was in his middle age", which shows his high evaluation.

In 1985, upon the recommendation of Mr. Zheng Zhenduo, who was the fifth Minister of Culture at the time, Li Weiqing published an album of flowers at the same time as Qi Baishi. It was distributed by International Bookstore at home and abroad. It was very popular and was reprinted seven times in a row.

The impact is widespread.

Like Chinese intellectuals, people who come from the old society always have "historical problems". Coupled with the influence of ultra-left ideological trends, Mr. Li Weiqing suffered an "unwarranted" attack in the early 1950s. He was fired from public office, without salary, and without

The source of livelihood is only the 40 yuan salary of his wife who is a primary school teacher to support his family of three. At this time, Li Weiqing is very sad and has no tears. "Autumn is coming, and the maple leaves sing red and the chrysanthemums turn yellow. I remember last year after the Double Ninth Festival, the ups and downs

"Yu Gurenzhuang".

In that ups and downs era, although the old man felt helpless, he became more cheerful and optimistic. He was still proud of his life, focusing on his paintings and playing with his pen and ink.

Regardless of whether it was cold or hot, I practiced boxing while riding, read and painted. For decades, I used a frozen pen to knock on the ice, made square bricks into paper, and used pure water as ink in the cold window with air leakage for decades. I developed the hard skills of iron and silver hooks

.

Painting requires pens, ink, and paper.

For Li Weiqing, who keeps writing every day and only relies on his wife's salary and his own meager royalties to make a living, it seems very difficult. In addition to using square bricks and water, he also uses newspapers, windproof paper (for window coverings) and even yellow straw paper to draw light.

He was even more responsive to those who asked for paintings on paper. He said: "You buy paper and I will paint, why not do it."

When I was young, I studied painting under many different teachers. I also sought advice from Mr. Li and was inspired by him.

Among the older generation of painters I know and have interacted with, it can be said that Mr. Li Weiqing has always been a childlike and innocent old man until he grows old. He has no worldly sophistication and his heart is as clear as a mirror.

It is often a matter of quick utterance, and then there are many "offenses", but I don't know it at all.

When the Jiangsu Academy of Painting was established, Mr. Li was invited to a symposium. He was the only painter from Nanjing. Unexpectedly, he spoke eloquently and acted as if there was no one else around. He even appeared to be too "subversive", "crazy" and "too pedantic" for "making wild remarks".

", coupled with "historical issues", this kind of temperament is obviously incompatible with the current situation. Later, in the Jiangsu Painting Academy, there were Qian Songyan from Wuxi, Zhang Jin and Yu Tongfu from Suzhou, Ding Shiqing from Zhenjiang, Squid Louxian from Yangzhou, Wang Qinfang from Xuzhou,

Fang Huqing in Changzhou is not an old painter from Nanjing, but Li Weiqing is unfazed by honor and disgrace, and is willing to be a self-reliant "folk painter" who doesn't care about heaven and earth.

Painters have always been divided into the ruling and the opposition parties. Because of this, he is like a wandering cloud and wild crane, aloof from the outside world, unrestrained and unrestrained, freely galloping in his own artistic world.

He admired Qing Teng, Bada, Shi Tao, Baguai and Wu Changshuo, and his conversations with them reached the point of obsession.

At the same time, he continued to sketch from life. His sketches were fast and accurate, and he also used freehand brushwork to write about his spirit. He had his own unique insights and unique methods.

There is such a thing. Li Weiqing's neighbor raised a big rooster. I have also seen this rooster with red crest and bright feathers. It is majestic, majestic and very picturesque.

Mr. Li was so fascinated that he went to sketch the rooster every day.

Observing its various expressions and movements, I became familiar with it. One time when I came back from sketching, I looked a little depressed. When I asked, it turned out that the owner saw an old man biting his rooster every day, thinking that he had some evil intentions and killed the chicken.

However, he had already obtained several sketches. During this period, he painted a number of works that were both spiritual and physical. Cockfighting was the representative work of this period.

During the Cultural Revolution, most painters were so shocked that they stopped painting. At this time, Li Weiqing was even more neglected, but because he was under the management of the residents' committee, he has been living in a bamboo pole in an ancient Pingshi Street in Nanjing.

He calls himself "the man in the bamboo pole" and is accompanied by the Four Gentlemen: Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum.