Wu Tao-tzu - Tang Dynasty Painter

Wu Tao-tzu:

The colorful and brash Wu Tao-tzu, one of the most talented painters of the Tang Dynasty, is to China what Michelangelo is to Italy. The main difference is that while we have many extant works by Michelangelo, the fame of Wu Tao-tzu rests mainly on a few copies of his work and his extraordinary legend. None of the over 300 murals or the innumerable scrolls that he is said to have painted in his lifetime survive today.

Early Life:

Wu Tao-tzu was born in 689 A.D. in Yang-ti, which is in the Honan Province of China. It seems he came from a very poor background and was orphaned at quite an early age.

Cast out into the world alone, he had to struggle to survive. He had a natural aptitude for art and found a position as an apprentice with artisans working on the local Buddhist temples. He is supposed to have undergone training in Calligraphy under Chang Hsu, a Buddhist monk and famous Calligrapher.

Career:

Wu Tao-tzu flourished as an artist and quickly surpassed his teachers. Soon the news of his talent reached Emperor Hsuan-tsung and he summoned the young man, then about 25, to his court in Ch'ang-an. Wu Tao-tzu was given the pleasant, profitable and not too wearisome task of teaching art to the beautiful Court Ladies. In his own time, he continued with his own work and also continued painting Buddhist religious murals on temple and monastery walls.

The reign of Emperor Hsuan-tsung is considered to be the high mark of cultural achievement of the Tang Dynasty. He was a Great Patron of Art and his court was filled with a glittering array of the best Chinese Artists, Writers, Poets, and Musicians of the period.

This was the exact sort of atmosphere required to bring Wu Tao-tzu's genius to full bloom. Wu Tao-tzu was a person who made up his own rules to a large extent and marched to his own drum-beat. He liked his alcohol and believed it assisted his work – it is said that he unfailingly always got drunk before embarking on a new painting. And then he worked in a mad fury and very fast – 'with the force of a whirlwind', as Robert Payne mentions – and, to watching people, it seemed as though by magic that an entire picture, always with an exquisite calligraphic delicacy of line and form, appeared; they never could quite figure out how he did it. Naturally this led to rumors about magical powers and Wu Tao-tzu, who wasn't into step-by-step explanations, became a legend in his own lifetime.

He found immense favor with Emperor Hsuan-tsung too. The Emperor, after meeting him, had developed an immense respect for him, both as an artist and as an individual, and retained this respect for all his temperamental and unruly behavior.

Wu Tao-tzu also became friendly with Prince Ling and accompanied him on an inspection tour to Szechuan. He is said to have taken one day to paint a magnificent landscape scroll, featuring 100 miles of the wild Chialing River, on this trip.

Another story of Wu Tao-tzu concerns his painting of General P'ei Min. Instead of having the General strike up a conventional pose, he asked him to begin his ferocious Sword Dance. By the time the dance was over, so was Wu Tao-tzu's equally energetic masterpiece.

End:

Wu Tao-tzu remained under Imperial patronage for the rest of his life. The exact date or manner of his death is not known. Quite extraordinary considering that he was such a legend. So, of course, the Chinese came up with a fine tale to fill in the blank space. According to the official story, Wu Tao-tzu spent his last years working on a huge and magnificent mural in Emperor Ming Huang's Palace. One day as he was nearly finished, the Emperor arrived to see his work and Wu Tao-tzu showed him a cave that he had included in the painting. Not any old, ordinary cave, but one that opened when the painter clapped his hands. Wu Tao-tzu invited the Emperor to come see the interior, which, he assured him, was utterly beautiful and worth seeing. Saying this, he stepped inside himself, expecting the Emperor to follow. But the latter, startled, remained rooted to the spot, and the cave entrance closed behind Wu Tao-tzu. In a matter of seconds the whole mural faded away and only a blank palace wall remained.

Wu Tao-tzu had thus departed from earth in creative style. I prefer this version myself. Sounds more positive and inspiring than 'Died old and raving from Cirrhosis outside a disreputable tavern'.