The Tang Dynasty was a dynasty rich in talents, whether it was the poet Li Bai, or the poet Saint Du Fu, etc., they were all famous great poets of this period. However, many people only know that Tang Dynasty poetry flourished, but ignored the painting art of Tang Dynasty. Wu Daozi, who has the reputation of painting saints, can be used as a typical representative of this period. Nowadays, there are also many works of Wu Daozi that are circulated in the folk and are collected by people who love antique calligraphy and painting.
The image comes from the Internet
Painting Saint Wu Daozi, also known as Wu Daoxuan. He was born in 680 in present-day Yuzhou, Henan Province. When he was a child, Wu Daozi's family was very poor, but fortunately, his parents were all knowledgeable people. Therefore, Wu Daozi can always have the opportunity to receive education. He studied with calligraphers Zhang Xu, He Zhizhang and others and practiced calligraphy. But later, out of his love for painting, Wu Daozi resolutely gave up calligraphy, immersed himself in painting, and resigned from the official position of county lieutenant he held at that time, traveling around, feeling nature, and preparing for painting.
During the Kaiyuan period, Wu Daozi's fame gradually spread in the process of traveling around. So he was summoned by emperor Xuanzong of Tang at the time. The "Golden Bridge Diagram" painted by him for Tang Xuanzong was even more highly praised by the painting world. Painting Saint Wu Daozi is a person who dares to innovate and does not stick to forms and regulations, and "Orchid Leaf Painting" is a new method of painting he invented. In Wu Daozi's works, because most of the figures he painted were dressed in fluttering clothes, there seemed to be a wind in the paintings. Therefore, people call his painting style "Wu Belt Dangfeng". "Sending Son Heavenly King Diagram", "Liangwu Emperor" and "Hell Disguise Diagram" are all one of the famous representative works of Saint Wu Daozi. In 759 AD, this legendary figure died in Chang'an.
Works by Wu Daozi
Wu Daozi was one of the famous painters of the Tang Dynasty, although there were not a few painters born in the Tang Dynasty, in addition to Wu Daozi, there were yan Zhenqing, Ouyang Qing and so on. However, in the evaluation of later generations, the title of "Painting Saint" was only given to Wu Daozi. From this, it can also be seen that Wu Daozi not only created a wealth of works in this life, but also his painting techniques have indeed reached a certain realm. So what are Wu Daozi's works?
Wu Daozi painting
Wu Daozi's first work is the "Golden Bridge Map", which enjoys the reputation of "Three Absolute Perfections of the Times", which is a work created by him together with Wei Wutian and Chen Hong. Later, as Wu Daozi's reputation rose, there were not a few people who asked him to paint for a while. Among the works related to figure painting, Wu Daozi's main works are "Sending Sons to the Heavenly King", "Liangwu Emperor", "Zhu Yun Folding Sill Diagram", "Khan Guangwu Emperor Burning Clothes Map", and "Ming Emperor Receiving Seal Map" and so on. Since Wu Daozi is best at painting murals related to Buddhism, he has also left many works for posterity in terms of religious murals, the main representative works are "Tota Heavenly King Figure", "Great Protector Deity", "Peacock Ming King Statue", "Baoji Binga Buddha Statue" and "Jialing River Landscape Three Hundred Mile Map" and so on.
Among them, he also painted a "Picture of Hell in Disguise", with which Wu Daozi quickly became a name that everyone knew and knew in the Tang Dynasty. In terms of character photography, Wu Daozi's works also include "Xuanyuan Zhen", "Confucius Presses Several Seated Statues", "Li Linfu Statues", "Yang Guozhong Statues", "Yixing Master Zhen", and "Yan Zi Portraits" and so on. Landscape and other aspects, there are also some famous works such as "Huaqing Palace Map", "Shuanglin Map" and "Nanyue Map" have been handed down.
Wu Daozi Tianwang sent a son figure
Wu Daozi is a master figure in the Chinese painting world, and is revered as a painting saint, and folk painters respect him as a "grandmaster". Wu Daozi is good at figure painting, mainly engaged in paintings of religious themes, and Wu Daozi Tianwang Sending Zitu is one of his classic masterpieces.
Wu Daozi Tianwang sent a child figure partially
Wu Daozi's "Diagram of sending the Son to the Heavenly King" is a hand-scrolled paper, 35.5 cm long and 338.1 cm wide, also known as the "Picture of the Birth of Shakya", which was painted by Wu Daozi according to the Buddhist scripture "Ruiying Benqi Sutra", the original manuscript has been lost, and the Song ren copy is now stored in the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art in Japan.
Wu Daozi's "Sending Son Heavenly King Diagram" is divided into two parts, the former part is that the two gods ride the god of the beast galloping, and the heavenly king has hands and knees, and his appearance is majestic. The maid behind her was serene, and the warrior was sword-wielding. In the second part, the King of Pure Rice carefully hugged the newborn Shakya, and the queen followed closely behind, and the god panicked and greeted him. Although there are many characters in the painting, but the expressions are different, the tension is moderate, the sense of rhythm and narrative is very rhythmic, and Wu Daozi's portrayal of the identity, psychology and form of the characters is meticulous, both imaginative and not lacking in charm. The unique "Wu family-like" lines, thick and thin, flow at will, vivid and appropriate performance of characters and ghosts, into the wood three points.
"Sending Sons to the Heavenly King" is a full embodiment of Wu Daozi's painting style, he pioneered the orchid leaf painting, adhering to the practice of "line brush is sharp, squandering like a thorn strip, folding between circles, concave and convex". He realized the way of using the pen from the sword dance of Gongsun Da Niang, focusing on the ups and downs of the pen power in the painting, the posture was majestic and loose, showing the inner spiritual strength. Wu Daozi's paintings, with simple colors, are not even colored, and they have a bit of expressionism.
Wu Daozi's portraits are very personal, and are very different from Gu Kaizhi, Lu Tanwei, etc., "the pen is not thoughtful and intentional, the appearance is flawed and the spirit is complete", the gesture is round, the clothes are fluttering, and the flowers are dancing, forming an artistic style of "Wu Belt Dangfeng", which is popular for a while and has a far-reaching impact on future generations.