Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Story of a Great Chinese Painter

This is the story of a painter named WU DAOZI who lived in the eighth century in China. He lost his parents at a very early age but by dint of sheer hard work and talent he earned a good reputation for himself at a young age of 20. When the Tang emperor Xuangzong came to know about him, he invited him to become an imperial painter in the court.

Wu was a man of open mind and liberal ideas. He had lived a life that was free from restrictions till then. Now as an imperial painter he could create a work only according to the desires of the emperor. Inspite of the restrictions he painted many great works of art-- about 300 murals and 100 scrolls.

One day the emperor asked him to create a painting to decorate the palace walls. Wu put his heart and soul in the work to create a landscape painting. When the king saw it, he was very impressed. He started appreciating the mountains, river and the other features of the landscape. However the painter interrupted and said, "Look Sire, at the cave that lies at the foot of the mountain. A spirit lives in this cave." After that he clapped his hands and the door of the cave in the painting opened. He further said, " The inside is so splendid! I wanted to show you the way." Then the painter entered the cave and the door closed behind him. Before the astonished emperor could say anything, the painting, the brush , everything had vanished along with the painter. WU DAOZI was never seen again in this world.

Sources: 

1. Nathalie Trouveroy, Landscape of the Soul, Hornbill, NCERT, 
2. India; http://www.chinaculture.org/gb/en_artqa/2005-  12/27/content_77521_2.htm