Yuan dynasty painter and poet of plum blossoms. Schoolchildren learn his poem 墨梅 and the story, from the start of the novel 儒林外史, of the poor cowherd boy who taught himself to paint lotuses.
《 Rú lín Wài shǐ 》 kāipiān jiù jiǎng le Wáng Miǎn fàng niú xué huà de gùshi.
The opening of The Scholars tells how Wang Mian learned to paint while tending cattle.
Tips
culture
吴敬梓 makes him the yardstick for every scholar who follows in 儒林外史: he turns down office and condemns the examination system for making people think lightly of learning and conduct. The novel even moves him into the Ming; the real Wang Mian died in 1359.
culture
The best-known lines of his poem 墨梅 are 不要人夸好颜色,只留清气满乾坤: 'I want no one to praise my fine colours, only to leave a clean air filling heaven and earth.'