(b Shanyin [modern Shaoxing], Zhejiang Province, 12 March 1521; d 1593). Chinese painter, calligrapher, essayist, poet and dramatist. He was born to the concubine of a minor official and was reared by his father’s second wife after his father’s death. In 1540 he passed the first test leading to higher government examinations. He was married the following year and moved with his wife’s family to Guangzhou (Canton). Xu retreated to a monastery in 1550, after the deaths of his wife and stepbrothers, and attempted the higher civil service examination but failed repeatedly. While in the monastery Xu Wei turned his energies to writing and painting, producing paintings, plays, poetry and essays on opera. His literary reputation resulted in his appointment as personal secretary to Hu Zongxian, the commander–governor of the south-east coastal provinces, a post he held until 1562, when his patron was accused of treason and imprisoned. Between 1552 and 1561 Xu Wei four times attempted the provincial examinations, the second stage in the civil service examinations, with no success. From 1562 Xu became increasingly unstable: in 1565 he attempted suicide, and the following year he stabbed his third wife to death in a fit of madness and was sentenced to death. Friends interceded and he was released from prison in 1572. The last two decades of Xu’s life were marred by illness and heavy drinking. He died in poverty at the age of 73.

• Xu Wei
  • China, §II, 5(ii)(a): Domestic architecture: Historical development
  • works
    • China, §IV, 2(vi)(b): Calligraphy: Middle Ming
    • China, §V, 3(ii)(b): Chan Buddhist painting
    • China, §V, 3(vi)(e): Painting: Bamboo, plum and ink-flowers
    • China, §XIII, 18(ii): Paper: Materials and techniques