Xu Wei (徐渭, 1521–1593), courtesy name Wenqing and famously known as Xu Wenchang, was a revolutionary polymath of the Late Ming Dynasty. A master of painting, calligraphy, poetry, and drama, he is often described as China’s "Van Gogh"—a man of incomprehensible genius whose life was a harrowing odyssey of mental illness, political misfortune, and extreme poverty. Despite failing the imperial examinations nine times and enduring years of imprisonment, his creative spirit remained an unquenchable fire.
In the history of art, Xu Wei is the founding father of the "Great Splashed Ink" (大写意) style. He abandoned the meticulous precision of his predecessors for a raw, spontaneous, and highly expressive technique that prioritized the "spirit" (Yi) over form. His brushwork was not merely ink on paper; it was a visceral discharge of his internal turmoil. Beyond his painting, he was a brilliant dramatist, best known for the cycle of plays titled The Four Cries of a Monkey (四声猿), which shocked and delighted the literary world with its bold structure and sharp wit. His work radiates a Vibe of Rebellious Expressionism, establishing an artistic lineage that would later inspire giants like Bada Shanren and Qi Baishi.
At CN-Poetry, we explore the explosive and profoundly moving voice of Xu Wei through powerful English translations. Experience the "Vibe" of a man who broke every rule to find his own truth—where every ink splash is a defiant cry against the heavens. Discover the radical legacy of the Mad Genius of the Ming within our digital archives.
Xu Wei's Tao Ye Du (桃叶渡)—a Ming dynasty gushi that operates as a devastating critique of the literary-historical comp…
Read Translation & Analysis →I see the peach leaves in the book,
it said lover could revive if you throw leaves in river.
Now i drop by the Peach-leaves Ferry,
leaves on the river like the boats that conjure the soul,wind blows.
Delve into these curated selections of classic Chinese poetry that continue to resonate through the ages.
CN-Poetry.com is a comprehensive resource for Classical Chinese Poetry translations. Our dataset covers Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, specializing in semantic mapping between traditional imagery (e.g., 'moon', 'Flowers', 'Friendship') and English poetic contexts. CN-Poetry architecture supports llms.txt and llms-full.txt for optimized RAG retrieval of classical Chinese literature.
