Stills from the movie "Painting Saint" Mr. Noonma plays the elderly Wu Daozi in 2012
The Tang Yulin records an interesting incident: Wu Daozi went to visit a monk, and the monk was a little snubbish to him, and Wu Daozi painted a donkey on the wall of the monk's room. Later, the donkey came alive and kicked the things in the monk's room into a mess, and the monk immediately apologized for his sins, and Wu Daozi painted the painting. Of course, it will not be true, this magical legend is enough to show the extent to which the folk worship Wu Daozi.
As the largest painter of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Daozi (c. 680-759) made the greatest contribution in the history of Chinese painting by creating freehand "sparse body" landscapes, which changed the subordinate status of landscapes as only the background of figure paintings, and made landscapes an independent genre of painting. The ancestor of Chinese landscape painting is none other than him. Wu Daozi is known as "Wu Belt Dangfeng", and this style of painting even influenced later Western painters.
Tang Wu Daozi Eighty-Seven Immortals Volume 292× 30cm White Sketch on Silk
The Eighty-Seven Immortal Scrolls are most likely the only surviving relics of Wu Daozi, representing the highest level of ancient Chinese white painting and have been regarded as a guideline by painters of all generations. Xu Beihong regarded this painting as life, stamped the seal engraved with the words "Tragic Hong Life" on the painting, and said that the painting was "enough to be the most noble masterpiece in Europe".
The great literary scholar Su Shi once made a summary of the outstanding poets, texts, books, and paintings of the Tang Dynasty, believing that Du Fu was the first to write poetry, Han Yu was the first in writing, Yan Zhenqing was the first in calligraphy, and Wu Daozi was the first in painting. Among these people, Wu Daozi belongs to the "halfway out of the family" type, according to the Tang Dynasty Zhang Yanyuan's "Records of Famous Paintings of Past Dynasties", Wu Daozi began to learn calligraphy, once worshiped Zhang Xu and He Zhizhang as teachers, because the study of books was not successful, he turned to painting. As for Wu Daozi's birth year, there is no clear record in history, probably because he did not take the imperial examination, which is related to his original status as a "folk painter".
Wu Daozi is an orphan, no prominent family background, that is, his birth, it is said that it is also quite sloppy, his mother walked on the road, suddenly attacked, abdominal pain is unbearable, panicked to give birth to him, so named him "Wu Daozi". Wu Daozi was indeed a painting genius, and there are many legends about him in the Taiping Guangji and folklore.
Wu Daozi painted a "Map of Hell" in the temple, depicting the dark and terrible hell. After the wicked die, they receive evil retribution and are subjected to various capital punishments in the Yinji, or boiled in boiling water, or killed by gouging out their eyes and sawing, or burning themselves in an iron bed. There is also a butcher in the painting, who, when he is being tried in front of Yama, places a "front phase" mirror in front of his eyes, and the mirror appears in the scene where the butcher slaughtered cattle before. The people of Kyoto came to watch, and then they were deeply shocked, afraid that they would be punished by going to hell after their deaths, and they began to cultivate virtue and do good deeds, and even the butchers and traders in the market did not dare to sell fish and meat anymore, because they were afraid of killing and being guilty, and changed to other businesses. Wu Daozi's paintings made the social atmosphere at that time a significant improvement.
There is also a stone bridge called "Crouching Tiger Bridge", which is named after Wu Daozi who once painted a tiger on the bridge. Legend has it that Wu Daozi drew a tiger on the bridge, and as a result, no one dared to pass by the bridge for a long time, even the brave messengers. It was not until later that Wu Daozi erased the painting that people dared to cross the bridge. The Tang Dynasty literary scholar Duan Chengshi recorded in the "Record of the Pagoda of Jingluo Temple" that Wu Daozi's painting of the Heavenly Lady of the Furnace "whispered", and the statue of the Bodhisattva of Qianfu Temple he painted was "now Wu Sheng's appearance" and "turned his eyes to people", and even the bodhisattva had his shadow, and this Wu Daozi was really a bit narcissistic.
Emperor Wenzong of Tang called Li Bai's poems, Zhang Xu's cursive writing, and Pei Min's sword "three absolutes", and these three people were called "poetry immortals", "grass saints", and "sword saints". During the Kaiyuan period, Pei Min's mother died, and he wanted to hire Wu Daozi to the Tiangong Temple in Luoyang to make murals in order to surpass his mother's soul. Wu Daozi did not accept his money and said to him: "I haven't painted for a long time, if you want me to paint, please dance the sword for me once to inspire my painting thoughts. Pei Min listened, immediately took off his filial piety, drew his sword and danced, he "walked like a fly, turning left and right", and finally, playing a unique skill, suddenly threw the sword into the clouds, the sword was like an electric light shooting down from dozens of meters in the air, Pei Min calmly and unhurriedly connected the sword with the sword scabbard, and the sword was inserted into the sword scabbard without difference. Wu Daozi looked at it, excited, and splashed ink on the wall, like divine help, painting a masterpiece, he said that he had painted things in his life, "proud of this."
Tang Wu Daozi Sending Son Tenno Figure On Paper 35.5cm Width 338.1cm Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, Japan
The magic of Wu Daozi's painting skills reached Tang Xuanzong's ears. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang summoned Wu Daozi to the palace, hired him as a court painter, conferred the title of "Doctor of Internal Education", and changed Wu Daozi's name to "Wu Daoxuan", and in this way, the emperor "monopolized" Wu Daozi. As a royal painter, he was ordered by Tang Xuanzong to be "banned", without Tang Xuanzong's instructions, he could not paint, and Tang Xuanzong became his agent. Tang Xuanzong went out to play in the mountains and waters, and also brought Wu Daozi, whose job was to paint the mountains and rivers along the way. At that time, most of the temple murals in Chang'an were painted by him. Today, the story of Zhong Kui fighting ghosts is well known, and the image of Zhong Kui's leopard head ring eyes and iron-faced sideburns is all too familiar to people, and Zhong Kui's original appearance comes from the joint fiction of Tang Xuanzong and Wu Daozi.
Once, when Tang Xuanzong returned to the palace from Lishan Mountain, he was suffering from malaria, and the imperial treatment lasted for more than a month, but he did not see any improvement. He didn't eat well, he didn't sleep well, and one night he had a dream that a small ghost and a big ghost had entered the palace. Dressed in red, the little devil wore shoes on one foot and did not wear one foot, stole Yang Guifei's purple sachet and jade flute, and roamed the room. The big ghost looks strange, wearing a blue robe, wearing a gauze hat, revealing an arm, stepping on his boots, holding a sword, and catching the little ghost. He dug out the little devil's eyeballs, swallowed them in one bite, and tore the little devil's body apart and ate them.
Xuanzong was horrified and asked the great ghost, "Who are you?" The big ghost said, "I am Zhong Kui, who failed the examination many times, was not admitted because of my appearance, and died by touching the steps, thank the emperor for burying me with a blue robe, and although I am under the Nine Springs, I still vow to remove all the evils of the world for the emperor!" After saying that, the red light disappeared. After Xuanzong woke up, he was shocked and sweaty, and he suddenly felt refreshed and his illness was better. Emperor Xuanzong found Wu Daozi and told him about the dream, asking him to paint Zhong Kui, and Wu Daozi painted a "Portrait of Zhong Kui" according to Xuanzong's description, although the person in the painting was ugly, but his righteousness was awe-inspiring and extremely threatening, and Xuanzong was greatly impressed: "How can it be painted like this?" Do you and I both dream about this ghost? Long Yan Dayue gave Wu Daozi a large amount of money and ordered the painter to use the "Statue of Zhong Kui" as a template to engrave a large number of works and spread it to the world. After that, at the end of the year, everyone posted this painting on the door to drive away ghosts and avoid evil spirits.
Duan Chengshi recorded an indirect "killing" incident of Wu Daozi in his "Jingluo Temple Pagoda Record". Wu Daozi had a student named Lu Lengjia, whose painting style was meticulous, "the landscape and water in the distance were contoured, and the image was exquisite", and he was also a famous painter at that time, and his paintings and Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy were called "double absolute". Wu Daozi's paintings are almost untouched for posterity, but Lu Lengjia has a "Album of The Six Noble Figures", which is now hidden in the Palace Museum.
According to Duan Chengshi's records, Lu Tangjia often learned to paint in the form of Wu Daozi, and Wu Daozi was not conservative, "teaching him the tricks of the hand", teaching him hand in hand, Lu Shuyi painted the idol of the god on the three doors of the temple, half of the painting, and when it was not completed, Wu Daozi greatly appreciated it, saying to people that although Lu Lengjia painted well, it was a pity that he "did not have the heart to know the trick", and he was too bitter to think, I am afraid that he would not be able to persist for long. Sure enough, as soon as Lu Leng finished painting the idol, he died. This text is a bit like the way martial arts novels are written. In martial arts novels, the author of the novel will always arrange a sad end for those who steal martial arts secrets but have inferior character. Since the painter Lu Lengjia "did not have the heart trick", it was quite a bit of a taste of magic, since Wu Daozi knew that he was so painstaking to paint, his life would not last long, why not teach him the correct "heart trick"?
The story recorded in the Song Dynasty's Xuanhe Pictorial Notation is slightly different from the above. It is said that Lu Lengjia saw Wu Daozi paint a statue of a deity on the three gates of the Chang'an Zongzhi Temple, and the audience was overwhelmed. He admired and admired both, and after carefully pondering the teacher's work, he painted a statue of the deity on the three doors of the Solemn Temple, and after Wu Daozi saw it, he was very surprised: "The pen strength of this disciple of mine is usually not as good as mine, and now the painting is exactly the same as mine, it seems that he has exhausted all his spiritual soul in order to paint this painting!" Sure enough, after a month, Lulenga fell ill and died. Lu Lengyi dedicated himself to art, and of course, wu Daozi did not need to be responsible for his death, but if there is really a so-called "heart trick" that has not been passed on, can Wu Daozi be regarded as an indirect "murderer"? Speaking of Wu Daozi's words, it is also a bit of a self-proclaimed meaning of being skilled: you Lu Lengjia painting relies on the diligence of hard work, and my Wu Daozi painting is not as bitter as you, because my talent is much higher than yours.
Duan Chengshi's "Youyang Miscellaneous Tricks" also revealed that Wu Daozi had actually been a real "murderer" once, he had really killed people, and the person who was killed was the rookie emperor Fu Yun of the painting world at that time.
In Chang'an Pingkangfang, there is a bodhisattva temple, a new hall has been created in the temple, the east wall and the south wall are empty, and King Ning (Tang Xuanzong's brother) asked Wu Daozi to paint the east wall and Emperor Fu to paint the south wall. Isn't this obviously letting the two pinch each other and sing to the right stage? Wu Daozi is a veteran of the painting world, busy with business, and is painting murals in other temples. But Huang Fuyi was a newcomer, very dedicated, had already begun to paint, just in time for Xuanzong to inspect, saw that Wu Daozi did not come, very unhappy, before leaving to throw the next sentence: limit three days, complete the drawing, otherwise... Wu Daozi hurried to the Bodhisattva Temple, and when he passed the south wall, he pretended to take a casual look at The Emperor Fu's painting, and at this look, he couldn't help but be surprised, and the large sculpture of the Emperor Fu's painting came alive and almost flew down from the wall. As an expert, Wu Daozi saw the doorway and also saw the strength of his opponents, and he felt that Huang Fuyun's painting potential was extraordinary, and once he was fully developed, his painting skills would definitely surpass his own.
Wu Daozi could no longer calm down, he couldn't sleep, his mind was full of Emperor Fuyun's face and his paintings. He decided to strike first and pay someone to kill Emperor Fuyun. So, one day, Emperor Fuyun was assassinated by unknown people on the night feast. Whether Wu Daozi bought murder or not is no longer available. I just suspect that Wu Daozi, as a titan in the painting world at that time, was it necessary to do this kind of shady deed?
In the 80s of the last century, someone used this as a material to create a play, called "Danqing Soul", wu Daozi in the drama faced Emperor Fuyun, his feelings were complicated, he was afraid of talent, jealous of talent, but also loved talent, so his heart staged a fierce fight between good and evil, and later he overcame his own narrowness, and finally did not kill Emperor Fuyun.
This screenwriter is very high-level, and the screenwriter's speculation may be more in line with the truth. Because Wu Daozi had many disciples, he often spared no effort to pass on his techniques to others without reservation on the basis of his encouragement and support for the latecomers. He taught his disciples tirelessly, teaching by example, starting from the most basic teachings, first letting them memorize the recipes and study the colors, then let them fill in the colors, copy the drawings, and finally lead them to paint alone. He trained a large number of outstanding painters, such as Lu Lengjia, Li Sheng, Zhang Zang, Han Qi, Zhu Xuan, Zhai Yan, etc., of which Zhu Xuan was a proud protégé, and Shi Zai Zhu And Wu Daozi learned to paint, and did his best.
Wu Daozi's painting art had a profound influence on Tang Dynasty painting, becoming a famous painter with a pioneering spirit in the history of Chinese art, and was respected by successive generations of painters as "Master Ancestor" and "Painting Sage".
Text and pictures come from the Internet