Dong qichang biography of abraham lincoln author

Life as a scholar and calligrapher: Dong Qichang was a native of Hua Ting located in modern-day Shanghai , the son of a teacher and somewhat precocious as a child. At 12 he passed the prefectural Civil service entrance examination and won a coveted spot at the prefectural Government school. He first took the imperial civil service exam at seventeen, but placed second to a cousin because his calligraphy was clumsy.

This led him to train until he became a noted calligrapher. Once this occurred he rose up the ranks of the imperial service passing the highest level at the age of He rose to an official position with the Ministry of Rites. Landscape with Calligraphy, Tokyo National Museum:' His positions in the bureaucracy were not without controversy. In he was giving the exam when the candidates demonstrated against him causing his temporary retirement.

In other cases he insulted and beat women who came to his home with grievances.

Dong qichang biography of abraham lincoln author: President Lincoln, General Grant,

That led to his house being burned down by an angry mob. He also had the tense relations with the eunuchs common to the scholar bureaucracy. Dong's tomb in Songjiang District was vandalized during the Cultural Revolution, and his body dressed in official Ming court robes, was desecrated by Red Guards.