Chinese painter, 87, announces birth of son with 37-year-old fourth wife, cuts off ties with other children (File image)

An 87-year-old Chinese painter, Fan Zeng, has drawn fresh attention in China after announcing the birth of a baby boy with his 37-year-old wife, Xu Meng, while also declaring that he has severed ties with his other children. The story has ricocheted across Chinese social media because it blends celebrity, inheritance anxieties, and a very public family rupture.

What Fan Zeng announced

Fan Zeng, a prominent figure in China’s traditional ink painting world, posted a statement in mid-December saying Xu Meng had given birth to a son, whom he described as his “only” child. In the same statement, he said he had ended relations with his daughter and his stepson, using unusually direct language that fuelled intense online debate about motive and timing.

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Why it became a national talking point

Two threads made the announcement explode. The first is age and status: an elderly cultural celebrity having a newborn child with a much younger spouse is inherently headline-making, and it landed in the middle of a busy year for gossip-driven Chinese social platforms. The second is money and legacy: the public cut-off from older children immediately raised questions about inheritance, control of assets, and who represents his interests as he ages.

What reporting suggests about the backdrop

Regional reporting and reprints of the story describe the statement as part of a broader pattern of personal and legal repositioning, including scrutiny of family relationships and the management of property and related entities. The reporting also notes the role of social media in amplifying family conflicts that might otherwise remain private, with readers parsing wording for clues about disputes over care, authority, or finances.

What remains unclear

What is not publicly established, at least from the reporting currently circulating, is a detailed, independently verified account of what triggered the break with his older children or whether any formal legal actions accompany the announcement. The available coverage relies heavily on the statement itself and secondary descriptions of prior tensions, which means key claims are difficult to verify from the outside.

Why this story resonates now

China is in the middle of a larger societal conversation about ageing, elder care, second marriages, and intergenerational money. A high-profile family dispute, presented in a single dramatic declaration, taps directly into those anxieties, which is why it has travelled far beyond the art world.