王子祥，又名王瑞祯，滦南县毛庄子村人。其祖父乃前清秀才，虽饱读诗书，满腹经纶，却空怀其志，靠为人作字卖画糊口。其父王树，承袭家传，作画一生，为人描绘房星楼阁，漆画庙王子祥，又名王瑞祯，滦南县毛庄子村人。其祖父乃前清秀才，虽饱读诗书，满腹经纶，却空怀其志，靠为人作字卖画糊口。其父王树，承袭家传，作画一生，为人描绘房星楼阁，漆画庙宇、观庵，练就了一手出众超群的画艺。
王子祥就生在这样一个家庭里，他的长辈们省吃俭用供他上了6年私塾。青灯伴读，墨砚为伍，良好的家教，严谨的家风，加之王子祥自小就生得乖觉灵静。小小年纪就对绘画产生了浓厚兴趣，是家庭的艺术熏陶，是父辈们的耳提面命，教导有术，还是他天生就有一种超常的绘画艺术细胞 刚刚10岁的王子祥己是见啥画啥，画啥就像啥，且惟妙惟肖，生动有神，韵味十足。到了1917年，13岁的王子祥随父辗转乡里，画庙饰屋，历经几载，画技更娴熟。村人见他作画，往往驻足注目，赞誉他为画界奇童。
王子祥30多岁时，绘画技艺己日臻成熟，仅及擅长工笔，大小写意、兼工带写，更突出地掌握了汉画艺术，而且对泥塑、雕刻更颇有研究和造诣。30年代初，随着西方文化流入中国，油画和漫画等西洋画种也随之传了进来，王子样对这些“洋”的东西不仅不排斥，还细心揣摩，取长补短，曾几次赴北平登门求师，拜访名家，反复实践，潜心研习，很快掌握和善通了油画的要领和技巧。他平常还善于积累素材，广泛搜集各类资料，尤其对戏剧人物脸谱多有偏爱，一生搜集积累甚多，从中借鉴，探求人物造型及表现手法。这样，王子祥集百家之大成，掌握了“古今中外”一系列绘画技法，堪称多才多艺的民间艺术家。
他的足迹遍及昌(黎)、滦(县)、乐(亭)，以及唐山、天津一带，盛名远播。而他依然憨厚朴实，不善辞令，不好炫耀。都说“艺人相轻”，“同行是冤家”，王子祥却不这样，他尊重同行，学习同行，联络同行，对他们竭诚相待，以好友相处。
王子祥人品高，艺术造诣深。他在绘画和雕塑中，不拘泥于一种形式，也不囿于各类画谱和仿效他人的死板模式，而是根据时代特色，所处环境以及人物性格，大胆创新，作品不仅形肖而且神似，更具时代特色，并达到出神入化，栩栩如生之意境。
国恨家仇　以笔代刀
正当王子祥在绘画艺术上拓展宏图的时候，日本帝国主义挑起了“九一八”事变，铁蹄践踏我大好河山，古老的中国土地上硝烟弥漫，战火纷飞，尸横遍野，到处断壁残垣。

在这种环境里，谁还会修建庵观寺庙，谁还会有心事彩绘楼阁亭台，王子祥此时只能同百姓一样，脑袋瓜子拴在裤腰带上整天躲“扫荡”，与敌人周旋，疲于保命，被迫搁置了画笔。

1940年的旧历八月十四日下午，王子祥的姐姐被万恶的日本鬼子用枪弹打倒在地，他闻讯赶到现场，在群众的帮助下，把奄奄一息的姐姐背到家里，一家人号啕大哭。他的心在流血!脖子上的青筋暴跳着，两只眼睛充满血丝，就像向外喷着火……

他连夜辗转找到当时在冀东区委路南办事处工作的张振宇、张鹤呜同志，坚决要求发给他一支枪，参加抗日队伍，为亲人报仇雪恨。当张振宇等同志了解到他的身世和经历后，语重心长地对他说：“你有血债，你有仇恨，想报仇，我们支持，日本鬼子欠下中国人民的血债累累，这笔帐早晚是要算的，但报仇的方式不一定非得扛枪杆子，你应该发挥你的特长，拿起笔杆子，以绘画的方式揭露敌人的残暴罪行，宣传群众，发动群众，动员更多的群众投入战斗……”

一番话说得王子祥心服口服，如同在茫茫的黑夜中找到了指路明灯，他当即请缨求战，要求任务。

就这样，王子祥重新拿起画笔，同敌人展开了另一种形式的斗争。

他画抗日宣传画，不仅在敌后农村画，有时还画到敌人眼皮子底下。他画画讲究快捷，当他得知敌人要到哪个村子“扫荡”时，就提前赶到那个村，手上拿着3支笔交替使用，贵在神速，画好后马上转移。等敌人来到时，一看漫画，直气得暴跳如雷，却不知是谁干的。他的活动范围也逐渐扩大，不仅在倴城一带画，还经常深入乐亭附近去画。

王子祥的这些画如同一把锋利的匕首，刺向了敌人，大灭了敌人的威风，大长了人民群众的志气。他的活动，受到了县委、区委领导的称赞。冀东路南区委曾下指示：要各村派民兵监视看护他画的宣传画，谁敢破坏或是报告给敌人，就以汉奸论处。

1942年冬天，日伪军在北宁路南的挖沟计划屡遭破坏，并多次遭到我抗日军民的打击，为镇压抗日群众，日军第二十七步兵团长铃木启久指令滦县张各庄的骑兵队长铃木信带领张各庄、司各庄日伪军250余人，火烧潘家戴庄，制造了一起震惊中外、骇人听闻的“千人坑”大惨案，屠杀我无辜同胞1280人，放火烧毁民房1030间，村民的财物被抢掠一空、熊熊大火一直烧了三天三夜，整个村庄变成一片焦土。

毛庄子村与潘家戴庄南北相距十来里地。王子祥站在村北的高处，望着北面的冲天大火，心焦如焚，牙齿咬得咯咯响，新仇旧恨一齐涌上心头，把他千仇万恨凝聚在笔端，决心把潘家戴庄惨案画成连环画，揭露敌人的滔天罪行，让世人皆知。

一日，他刚画完这套连环画的最后一幅，正准备着色，突然，枪声响起，日本鬼子讨伐来了!怎么办，跑出去已是不可能的，敌人已经进了村子，不跑吧，这画稿往哪里藏，万一让鬼子发现了，岂不要掉脑袋?他急中生智，拽过旁边一把旧太师椅，把那三层椅垫掀开，把画稿压在了下面，为了欺骗敌人，他又把为别人尚未画好的水墨观音像拿过来，佯作“观音像”的样子来蒙混敌人。

不多时，一个日本兵带着一个随从闯进来，厉声喝问：“你的什么地干活，”

日本鬼子一见他画的观音菩萨像，立刻产生了兴趣，一个劲地说：“你的快快地画，我的需要!”

王子祥灵机一动，把太师椅让过去：“太君请坐，我马上画!”鬼子一屁股坐到太师椅上，王子祥悬着的心才如同一块石头落了地。熟练地操起画笔又认真涂抹起来，直到外面吹响集合哨，他才把画笔搁置一旁，把观音画像递给了日本鬼子。

火烧潘家戴庄的连环画画出去了，得到了上级领导的好评，为表自己抗日和复仇的决心，第二年(1943年)，王子祥把自己年仅15岁的长子王东璧交给了路南一区队队长张鹤鸣，送他上了前线。

解放战争中，王子祥仍是斗志不减，笔绘不辍，他着眼解放，面向全国，题材更加广泛，作品最更加丰富。这期间，他的作品有《解放济南府，活捉王耀武》、《青风店战役罗历戎被俘》、《解放石家庄战役》、《解放区人民支前车轮滚滚》、《打进北平去，活捉傅作义》等等，为夺取解放战争的胜利尽心效力。

他应邀并受冀东行署委派出过一本《冀东军民画册》。

为了宣传《土地法大纲》，他改造“西洋景”(也叫：拉洋片)，编绘出新内容让人宣传唱诵，深受群众喜爱和欢迎。

王子祥为革命绘画多年，从没有要过任何报酬，这对一个依靠绘画为生的家庭，困难是可想而知的，但他毫无怨言，有时家中断了炊，家里人宁可勒紧裤腰带，从不向组织提任何要求。王子祥思想进步，功绩卓著，于1948年被吸收为中共党员。

从此，王子祥由一位普通的农民画匠成长为一名自觉的革命战士，更加焕发了青春，他为了党的事业更加忘我地工作着。

幸福进京　名垂青史

王子祥名噪一时，蜚声远播。

这时，全国除了南方少数省份及偏远地区外，大部分地区已经解放，毛主席、党中央也于1949年3月从西柏坡进驻北京，一个由人民当家做主的新中国的诞生正在酝酿之中。随之，各阶层人士及优秀代表也相继召开会谈，赴京参政，共商国是。

经县、地、省逐级选拔和推荐，王子祥作为画界有突出贡献、功绩卓著的优秀代表，怀揣党政领导机关签发的证件，带着家乡父老乡亲的重托，踏上赴京开会的路途。

一个值得永远纪念的日子，北京中山公园听雨轩内充满着欢乐、祥和的节日气氛，全国美协工作者代表会议在此召开，会上成立了，“中华全国美术工作者协会”。会议期间，与会代表受到了毛主席、朱德总司令、周恩来副主席等中央领导同志的亲切接见。

会上，一个身着毛兰粗布衣裳，系着一排蒜疙瘩扣庄稼式打扮的中年人颇为引人注目，他就是来自河北冀东农村的代表王子祥。

当毛主席来到他近前听了有关人员的介绍，紧紧握着他的手，勉励他继续努力，为农民兄弟争光，为新中国再做贡献时，他激动地满脸通红，嘴巴张了又张，半晌没说出一句话来。

即席，周恩来同志也为这位朴实的农民代表满满斟上一杯酒，王子祥双手接过酒杯微微颤抖着，他极力端稳，才没使酒溢出来。他多想把这杯酒带回去，让乡亲们共同品尝分享，或者把它珍藏起来，留做纪念，永传后世啊!他沉思着，在周恩来同志频频举杯一再示意下，他才眼含热泪，幸福地举杯一饮而尽，顿时，一股暖流传遍全身。

据传，王子祥在北京开会期间能受到毛主席等中央领导的接见，尚有一段故事。因当时就要建国，中央新政治协商会议筹备会正式发布启事，征求国旗、国徽图案及国歌词谱，当然也要找人绘制毛主席画像。此时，全国美协开会，各地高手济济一堂，因此，要求每位代表为毛主席画像一幅。当众多画像送呈毛主席核定时，毛主席被一幅突出了左下颌黑痣的画像所吸引，经询问，是王子祥代表所绘，就着意要见见他，见面一看还是一位普通农民，更加喜欢，这才出现了会议上那感人的一幕。

王子祥凭着他的才华卓绩，上报的事迹材料及选送的两件作品被与会代表选为全国美协候补委员。

王子祥回来后即把进京开会情况告知了曾任过本村村主任的乡政府秘书王新，还把带回来的大部分文件拿到县里。一时间，县里上下，村里乡亲，奔走相告，王子祥成了令人钦羡的“新闻”人物。

不幸的是，王子祥从北京开会回来不久，即身染重疾，一病不起，家人及乡亲们都劝他：“找找县里吧，凭你的名望和功绩，就是找找中央到北京去治一治也是可以的。”然而，王子祥却强忍病痛，摇着头深情地劝家人：“国家困难尚多，不要给组织找麻烦了。”坚持不让把自己得病的消息对任何人说，就连在外地当兵的长子东壁也没有告诉，就是到了生命垂危时，家人想叫大儿子回来，他还是一个劲儿摇头：“建国之初，山河重整，千万不要分散他的心。”

1950年深秋的一天夜里，昏迷中的王子祥醒来，他望了望围在身边的亲人，“哦!都在!唯独没有老大东璧”，他在话语中虽流露一丝憾意，但面部表情是平静的。他示意二儿东臣把从北京带回来的自己留下来的文件及照片找出来，双手接过来，颤抖着又浏览了一番，随后，他把手中的文件及照片缓缓放到胸口窝上，脸上露出了微笑，长长地吐出一口气，安详地睡着了。

王子祥逝世时，年仅46岁。

中共滦南县委、县政府在毛庄子村西，高搭席棚，为他召开了追悼会，县直属各机关、全县各学校师生代表、乡里的村民都参加了这次追悼会，花圈、挽联、布帐把追悼会布置得庄严肃穆。

秋风飒飒，白云低垂，松涛声声，人群悲泣，都在为这位才华横溢、为中国革命事业做过贡献而英年早逝的农民画家而悲痛、默哀、致敬。

安息吧，劳动人民的好儿子——王子祥，你的名字将永远载入这“水墨丹青”的历史长卷中。

宇、观庵，练就了一手出众超群的画艺。

王子祥就生在这样一个家庭里，他的长辈们省吃俭用供他上了6年私塾。青灯伴读，墨砚为伍，良好的家教，严谨的家风，加之王子祥自小就生得乖觉灵静。小小年纪就对绘画产生了浓厚兴趣，是家庭的艺术熏陶，是父辈们的耳提面命，教导有术，还是他天生就有一种超常的绘画艺术细胞，刚刚10岁的王子祥己是见啥画啥，画啥就像啥，且惟妙惟肖，生动有神，韵味十足。到了1917年，13岁的王子祥随父辗转乡里，画庙饰屋，历经几载，画技更娴熟。村人见他作画，往往驻足注目，赞誉他为画界奇童。

王子祥30多岁时，绘画技艺己日臻成熟，仅及擅长工笔，大小写意、兼工带写，更突出地掌握了汉画艺术，而且对泥塑、雕刻更颇有研究和造诣。30年代初，随着西方文化流入中国，油画和漫画等西洋画种也随之传了进来，王子样对这些“洋”的东西不仅不排斥，还细心揣摩，取长补短，曾几次赴北平登门求师，拜访名家，反复实践，潜心研习，很快掌握和善通了油画的要领和技巧。他平常还善于积累素材，广泛搜集各类资料，尤其对戏剧人物脸谱多有偏爱，一生搜集积累甚多，从中借鉴，探求人物造型及表现手法。这样，王子祥集百家之大成，掌握了“古今中外”一系列绘画技法，堪称多才多艺的民间艺术家。

他的足迹遍及昌(黎)、滦(县)、乐(亭)，以及唐山、天津一带，盛名远播。而他依然憨厚朴实，不善辞令，不好炫耀。都说“艺人相轻”，“同行是冤家”，王子祥却不这样，他尊重同行，学习同行，联络同行，对他们竭诚相待，以好友相处。

王子祥人品高，艺术造诣深。他在绘画和雕塑中，不拘泥于一种形式，也不囿于各类画谱和仿效他人的死板模式，而是根据时代特色，所处环境以及人物性格，大胆创新，作品不仅形肖而且神似，更具时代特色，并达到出神入化，栩栩如生之意境。

Wang Zixiang, also known as Wang Ruizhen, is from maozhuangzi village, LUANNAN COUNTY. His grandfather was a scholar of the former Qing Dynasty. Although he was full of poetry and books, he was full of economy and energy, but he had no ambition to make a living by writing for people and selling paintings. His father, Wang Shu, inherited his family's tradition and painted all his life. He painted Fangxing Pavilion and lacquer painting temple, Wang Zixiang, also known as Wang Ruizhen, a villager of maozhuangzi in LUANNAN COUNTY. His grandfather was a scholar of the former Qing Dynasty. Although he was full of poetry and books, he was full of economy and energy, but he had no ambition to make a living by writing for people and selling paintings. His father, Wang Shu, inherited his family's tradition and painted all his life. He painted Fangxing Pavilion, lacquer painting temple and guanan for others, and practiced outstanding painting skills.

Wang Zixiang was born in such a family. His elders lived frugally for him to attend private school for six years. With the help of blue lantern, ink and inkstone, good family education and strict family style, Prince Xiang was born with a quiet mind since he was a child. At a young age, he had a strong interest in painting. It was the art of family, the life of his parents, the skill of teaching, or he was born with a kind of extraordinary painting art cell. Just 10 years old prince Xiang Xiang himself saw what painting was, what painting was like, and it was lifelike, vivid and full of charm. In 1917, 13-year-old Wang Zixiang went to the countryside with his father and painted temples and houses. After several years, he was more skilled in painting. When the villagers saw him painting, they often stopped to pay attention to him and praised him as a wonderful boy in the painting world.

When Wang Zixiang was more than 30 years old, his painting skills were becoming more and more mature. He was only good at fine brushwork, freehand brushwork, part-time work with writing. He mastered Han painting art more prominently, and had more research and attainments in clay sculpture and sculpture. In the early 1930s, with the influx of western culture into China, western paintings such as oil paintings and caricatures also spread. Prince like not only did not exclude these "foreign" things, but also carefully speculated and learned from each other. He went to Peiping several times to ask for teachers, visit famous experts, practice repeatedly and study with his heart, and soon mastered the essentials and skills of oil painting. He is also good at accumulating materials and collecting various kinds of materials, especially his preference for the facial makeup of drama characters. He has collected and accumulated a lot in his whole life, from which he can learn and explore the character modeling and expression techniques. In this way, Prince Xiang has mastered a series of painting techniques of "ancient, modern and foreign", and he can be called a versatile folk artist.

His footprints are all over Chang (LI), Luan (county), Le (Pavilion), Tangshan and Tianjin, and he is well-known. And he is still simple and honest, not good at rhetoric, not easy to show off. It is said that "artists are inferior to each other" and "peers are enemies", but Wang Zixiang is not. He respects peers, studies peers, contacts peers, treats them sincerely and gets along with friends.

Wang Zixiang has a high character and profound artistic attainments. In his paintings and sculptures, he is not confined to one form, nor to all kinds of paintings and rigid models of imitating others. Instead, he innovates boldly according to the characteristics of the times, the environment and the character of the characters. His works are not only lifelike, but also lifelike.

National hatred and family hatred replace Dao with pen

While Wang Zixiang was expanding his vision in painting art, the Japanese imperialism initiated the "918" incident, trampling on my mountains and rivers with iron hooves. The ancient Chinese land was filled with gunpowder, wars, corpses and ruins.

In this kind of environment, who will build an temple, who will have a mind painted Pavilion, Wang Zixiang can only be like the people at this time, head melon seeds tied on the belt of pants and hide "sweeping" all day, and the enemy, tired of life, forced to use the brush.

On the afternoon of August 14, 1940, Wang Zixiang's elder sister was knocked down by the evil Japanese with bullets. He rushed to the scene after hearing the news. With the help of the masses, he carried the dying elder sister to his home, and the whole family cried loudly. His heart is bleeding! The blue tendons on his neck are jumping violently. His eyes are full of blood, just like shooting fire

He went all night to find Comrade Zhang Zhenyu and Zhang Hewu, who were working in the Lunan Office of Jidong District Committee, and insisted that he should be given a gun to join the Anti Japanese team and avenge his family. When Zhang Zhenyu and other comrades learned about his life experience and experience, they said to him earnestly: "you have a blood debt, you have hatred, want to revenge, we support, the Japanese people owe a lot of blood debt to the Chinese people, this account sooner or later is to count, but the way of revenge does not have to carry a gun pole, you should play your strengths, take a pen pole, and expose the enemy by painting We should publicize the masses, mobilize the masses and mobilize more masses to fight... "

Wang Zixiang was convinced by his words, as if he had found a guiding light in the boundless night. He immediately asked for a fight and a task.

In this way, Wang Zixiang picked up the paintbrush again and launched another form of struggle with the enemy.

He drew Anti Japanese propaganda pictures, not only in the countryside behind the enemy, but sometimes under the enemy's nose. When he knew which village the enemy was going to "mop up", he rushed to that village ahead of time, holding three pens in his hand to use alternately, which is important for his speed. After painting, he immediately transferred. When the enemy arrived, he was furious at the cartoon, but he didn't know who did it. He also gradually expanded the scope of his activities, not only in the area of Xiecheng, but also in the vicinity of leting.