From the year of Gao Feng's Hansheng (in 1683, the 22nd year of Kangxi) to the year of Luo Pin's death (in 1799, the 4th year of Jiaqing), the period of * * * 116 was the time when eight families lived in Yangzhou, which was the eve of the growth of capitalist factors and the collapse of feudal society in China.

The Qing Dynasty entered the customs, then pacified San Francisco and recovered Taiwan Province, and then launched wars in Junggar, Tibet, Qinghai, Jinchuan and other places, and won a series of military victories. By the 169s, the ruling situation was fixed. Social economy has gradually become relatively prosperous, and many capitalist factories and workshops have appeared throughout the country, and agriculture has developed. Open and large-scale military struggle among ethnic groups has come to an end, repressive massacres have basically stopped, ethnic contradictions seem to have eased, the hair of Han people has been shaved, many scholars have applied for official positions, the peasant revolution has basically subsided, and there are few major riots in the border areas. Judging from the economic phenomenon, industry and commerce are thriving, commercial cities are more prosperous, and many areas have commercial ties with foreign countries. In fact, the past 1 years have been a very sharp year for ethnic and class contradictions. The national struggle is going on in a more profound secret form, not only in secret association, but also in the ideological field. During this period, land annexation was serious and the rich and the poor were rapidly divided. The Qing nobles who entered the customs occupied a lot of land and enjoyed a generous salary. A prince's annual salary was as high as 12, yuan and 5, stones. A salt emissary from Sanjing paid 132 yuan in silver and 13 yuan in rice, in addition to the so-called "yanglianjin" (1), and other illegal income was not included. At that time, the area of cultivated land in China was less than that in the late Ming Dynasty. In the early years of Qianlong, the land price was seven or eight taels per mu, and in the late years of Qianlong, it rose to more than fifty taels per mu. Rich people compete for land, and many farmers lose their land, forming a situation that "the land belongs to the rich recently, about five or six out of ten". Zheng Banqiao once said in his poem "Poems on Bamboo Branches in Weixian County" that "most of the land around Guo Liangtian is merged into the rich family." At that time, the merchants and cruel officials not only plundered land, but also operated industry and commerce. There were many factories and mines with thousands of workers. Collusion between officials and businessmen, corruption, wealth quickly concentrated in the hands of a few people. The rich are rich in clothes and delicious food, while the ordinary people have a hard life and are in a precarious situation. During the Qianlong period, the floods and droughts in eastern Shandong and Jiangnan continued year after year, and there were sorrows everywhere; Jiangnan weavers repeatedly went on strike; On the postal transportation line along the canal for more than a thousand miles, not only the rice is transported around the clock, but also the fresh shad in the south of the Yangtze River is rushed to the north. The price of silver, rice and salt has been rising. In the early years of Qianlong, one or two pieces of silver were exchanged for seven hundred pieces of money, and the price of rice was more than ten pieces per liter; In the early years of Jiaqing, one or two pieces of silver were exchanged for 14 pence, while the price of rice rose to more than 5 pence per liter. ⑤ When it comes to bad years, families who "sell a child on the 1th and a woman on the 5th" often have it. Judging from the deed of prostitution at that time, five or six taels of silver sold their own children. ⑥ Some also sell farm cattle. ⑦ In terms of salt price, the market price is five or six articles per catty, while the official price in Yanchi producing area is only more than ten articles per catty. Through this cruel exploitation, salt merchants can make millions as soon as they change hands. However, the "pavilion households" who bake salt live a life of "getting salt to the best of their ability and leaving cattle and horses all year round". ⑧ Jin Zhaozi, a famous poet in Yangzhou, once sighed for this: "I am a son of Jia, and Guangsha has rich capital. The prison basin is a national interest, and the quality of the people is fat. " The exploitation of usury pawn shops mercilessly sucks people's blood marrow. At that time, a scholar who taught only earned one or two taels of silver a month. Pet-name ruby Zheng Banqiao once lamented that he was "half hungry and half full". From this, we can infer how a professional painter's life should be cold.

After the Qing Dynasty gained political and economic stability through some operations, the most worrying thing was the potential nationalism among the Han intellectuals. Especially the landlord class in the southeast, can not be ignored. So we made a "literary inquisition" all over the country, looking for Li Duan from written works, publicizing lists all over the country, luring and exposing people with unstable thoughts, making use of the topic out of thin air, being suspicious, and being accused of Luo Zhi. At one time, the demon fog was everywhere, and the murderous look covered the sky, often with the suspicion of one poem and one word, killing people and killing hundreds of people, making the scholars timid and silent. At the same time, Xiao Ting also saw that although the imperial examination was open, those in the Han nationality who were really "excellent in learning and writing" did not bother to walk into this trap of netting people; In order to further appease the Han intellectual class, he opened the "erudite and ambitious ci class". Therefore, the eight schools in Yangzhou are in an era of class disparity, sharp ethnic contradictions and particularly painful people's lives. It was the eve of the beginning of the collapse of feudal society in China. From the life experience of Yangzhou painters, it can also prove the social essence at that time. Facing the life experiences of painters of the school of painting, it can also prove the social essence at that time. Faced with the darkness of the Manchu royal family, the disparity between the rich and the poor, and the man-eating imperial examination system, the artist created great works such as The Scholars, A Dream of Red Mansions, Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, and attacked the dark reality, which is known to all. In the field of painting, especially in the works of eight artists, it is naturally reflected.

Besides, during this period, except for some people who were influenced by the philosophies of Wang Chuanshan and Huang Lizhou, most of them were confused in Neo-Confucianism, Textual Research and useless stereotyped writing. The idea of imitating ancient times hangs over the literary world, and poets fill in books and fill in books, groaning without illness; Painters follow in the footsteps of their predecessors and learn from each other; Painters in Beijing's court sing praises, don't mean what they say, mix fat and powder and whitewash peace; The "Four Kings", Wu, Yun and their disciples in the south of the Yangtze River are still imitating the past, and their sects are strict, which stifles the north and south painting circles.

Yangzhou, a medium-sized city flooded with official and commercial capital, has a unique tendency in philosophy, literature and art of the civil class. Dai Zhen, a master of Anhui School, held high the banner of Yangzhou School. Shi Tao sang the song "Too Old to Be Attending", which brought fresh air to Yangzhou's art scene. Yangzhou is not so severely constrained by feudalism, and there are not so many narrow-minded views in Jiangnan. This is the soil that artists like. During the period of Kang and Gan, the eight schools in Yangzhou did not occur in Jiangnan, nor in Beijing, but in Yangzhou, which has its objective reasons.

Because of their novel painting style, especially their mastery of poetry, calligraphy, painting and printing, their social influence has gradually expanded, and they have also formed an art school that is well known in Beijing and outside Beijing in the north and south.

But things are often not smooth sailing, and conservatives will never be content. Just during the Qianlong period, some people began to blow a cold wind on them, saying that they would not seriously paint flowers and birds with meticulous brushwork and were not good at landscapes. They just painted a few freehand brushstrokes of pine, plum, orchid and bamboo, and those "four gentlemen" did not reach the level of their predecessors. In the final analysis, such a painting of "three strokes and five strokes" and a doggerel of "five words and seven words" (11) can't be elegant, so they were given an disgraceful title-Yangzhou Eight Eccentrics with a dismissive attitude. Today, if we analyze it calmly, the so-called strangeness can also be said to be synonymous with innovation. It is a word that we don't understand new things for a while or has derogatory meanings. Times have changed. Today, we will never make a fuss again.

It's strange to say that these painters were not trampled to death by the orthodox school. On the contrary, with the development of history, they became increasingly popular after they arrived in Gan and Jia. By the 19th and 2th centuries, they were gradually understood and appreciated by more people. Until today, it is almost unknown in the literary and art circles to mention the eight Yangzhou painters. It seems that their pioneering spirit of daring to break through barriers and innovate is worth learning for promoting national painting.