During the reign of Emperor Zhengde (1506-1521) of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), there was a genius called Zheng Tang who came from Fujian. He excelled in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Zheng Tang ran a calligraphy and painting shop located at the corner of Gulou Street in Fuzhou. He did brisk business, as he sold his products at reasonable prices.
One day, a customer came to his shop, carrying a famous unique painting by Wang Ximeng, the only one he ever painted.
Wang Ximeng had lived in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). The man said, “I urgently need 5,000 taels of silver. Give me the silver and I will leave the painting here with you. I’ll be back to get it in three months. At that time, I’ll pay you 8,000 taels of silver.” As it was a famous painting, Zheng Tang was quite delighted to have a close look at it. He kept the painting and paid the man 5,000 taels of silver.
At the appointed time, the man did not come back. Zheng Tang became suspicious about the painting. He took it out and checked it closely. Unfortunately, he discovered it was a fake. Zheng Tang felt very angry and decided to try to get his own back on the fraud.
Several days later, Zheng Tang invited some men of letters and experts on painting in Fuzhou to examine and appreciate the painting. An old expert on painting came to look at it, as he heard that it was a great masterpiece. All of a sudden, he said with a stunned look, “Zheng Tang, I’m afraid this is an imitation.” Zheng Tang replied to the old man, “Yes, it is. I never imagined that I would be cheated after so many years of running my painting business. Today, I want to take this opportunity to warn you to watch out for the fraud. Now this fake painting is in my hands. I won’t deceive anyone. I am going to burn it at once.” After he said this, Zheng Tang threw the fake into the fire. All the people were filled with admiration for what he did.
Some days later, the fraudster came back to Zheng Tang’s shop. He said that he had been delayed by his business, and that he had come today to pay the money to get his painting back. Zheng Tang asked him, “Do you have enough money to pay?” The fraudster thought Zheng Tang was playing for time. Therefore, he took out 8,000 taels of silver and handed it to Zheng Tang. Zheng Tang turned to his assistant and said, “Fetch that painting for him.” The assistant did as Zheng Tang said. The fraudster unrolled the painting and found that it was the same one that he had left with Zheng Tang. The fraudster was struck dumb, and took the painting away.
As a matter of fact, the painting burned had been another imitation painted by Zheng Tang. The fraudster thought his own imitation had been burned, so his plan had been to extort more money from Zheng Tang. But to his surprise, he himself had been tricked instead.
