As one of the authors of the court masterpiece "Kangxi Southern Tour", the painter Xu Mei is unknown in the history of calligraphy and painting, and only in the inscription of this painting is people who have discovered him. As a representative of a generation of court painters, Xu Mei does not seem to be valued by the painting world. His name is only found on rare sources.
In this regard, the scholar Nie Chongzheng explained in the article "Kangxi Dynasty Court Painter Xu Mei and His Works" in the Forbidden City magazine.
Portrait of the Kangxi Emperor Web images
For example, Hu Jing's "Records of paintings of the State Dynasty" records that Leng Ming, Xu Mei, Gu Tianjun, Jin Kun, Zou Wenyu, Jin Yongxi, Li He, She Xizhang, Fan Zhen, Liu Yuqing, Chu Heng, He Quan, Yongzhi, and Xu Mingshi co-painted the two volumes of "Wanshou Tu". (Thirty-one paragraphs in the upper volume, nineteen paragraphs in the lower volume, marked in small letters.) The last paragraph of each paragraph reads: "In the spring and first month of the fifty-sixth year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Chen Lengming, Xu Mei, Gu Tianjun, Jin Kun, Zou Wenyu, Jin Yongxi, Li He, She Xizhang, Fan Zhen, Liu Yuqing, Chu Heng, He Quan, Yongzhi, and Xu Mingshi were painted by Gong Gong.
"Picture Catalogue of the National Dynasty Courtyard" Online Pictures
Before each volume of the water, the other inscription "Ten Thousand Lives Map" is preceded by a previous volume of the inscription: The fifty-second year of the Emperor's Imperial Pole... On March 10, on the eighth day, he met the sixty-year-old ,...... Therefore, the place where the road passes is painted as a picture, from the Shenwu Gate to the Xizhimen gate is the upper volume, and from the Xizhimen Gate to changchun garden is the lower volume,......。
"Kangxi South Tour" Network pictures
In the 56th year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1717 AD), the volume of the "Wanshou Tu" in the spring month of the first month of the Kangxi Dynasty was written with the name of the painter Xu Mei. The author also saw an archival account in the Qing Ministry of Internal Affairs's "Records of the Work of Each Work and Work": On March 15, 2015, Prince Yi played: For the painter Xu Mei died of illness, he was instructed to reward Xu Meiyin with eighty taels. Thanks. Prince Yi of this day decreed: The office will collect and deposit silver to reward Xu Mei with eighty taels, and then xu Mei will eat two silver and silver every month, so that Yizi will use the money and grain to support the Zhan (support) family on his behalf, and obey this. On this day, the Six Pins Official, Alan Tai, received a silver eighty-two reward to Xu Mei.
Qing Kangxi Wang Yi, Yang Jin, Xu Mei and seven other people jointly painted "Peach Plum Poultry and Fish Diagram" Axis Silk Coloring The Palace Museum collection
From this, it can be confirmed that the painter Xu Mei died in the second year of Yongzheng (1723 AD), which is probably the only record of the time of his death, and it is also his last news in the palace. As for the birth year of the painter Xu Mei, it is still uncertain, but since the painter Xu Mei once followed Wang Yi to participate in the drawing of the "Kangxi Southern Tour", Xu Mei should have already had quite skilled painting skills when he painted the "Kangxi Southern Tour Map", and was obviously an adult, so it is speculated that he was born in the early years of Kangxi, which may not be very far from the truth.
Qing Kangxi Xu Mei's "Genre Paintings" album page two open and part silk color Cover Ullens de Shutan collection
In the home of Baron Gai Ullens de Shutan on the outskirts of Brussels, there are two genre paintings with the nature of "Spring Palace Painting" by Xu Mei, which are quite delicate and delicate, the characters are well-proportioned and beautiful, the lines are neat, and the colors are also very beautiful, which is consistent with xu Mei's painting style recorded in the history of painting. It can be seen that his ability is indeed not bad.
Xu Mei Landscape Album Collection of the Palace Museum
After Xu Mei participated in the completion of the "Kangxi Southern Tour Map" and returned to the south, she once painted in the Suzhou Weaving Mansion, and finally was recruited, and once again went north to enter the court and became an official worship painter.