Integration And Inheritance

Suzhou Gaowu Wu Family was moved from Huizhou to Suzhou in the middle period of Ming. After generations of multiplying and development, It turned into a typical famous family of imperial exam, culture and art. Wu family paid equal attention to imperial examinations and business. They cultivated their children to take part in imperial examinations, honored their originals, and maintained the subsistence and development of their clansman. They established marriage and social intercourse relationship with other local great families such as Peng and Pan Family by the ties of culture and politics. In the late Qing, Wu family was of greater importance in Suzhou local society. They put great effort in maintaining local social order, perfecting social charity as well as establishing new-style schools. Hereby they promoted Suzhou’s modernization. In addition, Wu Family achieved great success in stone calligraphy, painting, collection and appreciation. Wu Dacheng was not only a provincial magnate but also a leading authority in epigraphy. His grandson Wu HuFan inherited family culture and did well in painting, appreciation and collection. In the late Qing, Suzhou experienced a series of war and lost its traditional central position, which accompanied with the rising of Shanghai. To swim with the tide, Wu Family moved from Suzhou to Shanghai. Wu Hufan adjusted to city life and took part in various kinds of painting and calligraphy exhibition activities.He inherited and extended the traditional circle of friendship by establishing close friendship’s with writer, painter, seal cutting experts, collector, merchant, artist and so forth. In virtue of the resources provided by Shanghai, he made great effort and finally broke through the bottleneck of Southern School Painting and Northern School Painting. He formed a peculiar style of drawing green mountains and waters. Thus became the leader of Shanghai painting. In the meanwhile, he missed his homeland a lot, so he frequently went back to Suzhou and visited old friends. He also helped develop and revive Suzhou painting, which can be set as an example of the Suzhou-Shanghai interaction.