Wu Daozi

Wu Daozi (c. 685–758 or c. 689–759), also called Daoxuan or Wu Tao Tzu, was a Tang dynasty painter. British art historian Michael Sullivan ranked him among the "masters of the seventh century," and in China his work is seen as the high point of court painting. No original paintings survive, though later copies based on his drawings exist.

His father died when Wu was young, leaving him in poverty. He studied calligraphy under Zhang Xu and He Zhizhang before turning to painting. He pioneered realistic techniques, formalized brushwork, and advanced landscape painting. He depicted figures with rounded strokes to suggest flowing garments.

Works

Wu traveled widely, creating murals in Buddhist and Daoist temples, and also painted mountains, rivers, flowers, and birds. No authentic originals remain, but some works survive in later copies or stone carvings. His famous painting of Confucius was preserved through a stone engraving.

Legends

Legends about Wu often involve Emperor Xuanzong. In one story, the emperor commissioned a palace mural. Wu painted a valley scene with plants, animals, and a cave at the mountain’s base.

He told the emperor a spirit lived in the cave, then clapped, entered the cave, and invited the emperor to follow. The entrance closed behind him, and the painting vanished. Swedish writer Sven Lindqvist explores this legend in The Myth of Wu Tao-Tzu.

Another legend says Xuanzong sent Wu to Sichuan to study the Jialing River for a mural. Wu returned without sketches and painted the entire 300-li river from memory in one day. Some versions add that his technique was foiled by Li Sixun, who accompanied him and worked slowly from numerous prepared sketches. If based on fact, the story likely reflects Wu’s speed, not a lack of sketches.

A third legend tells of a painter who found one of Wu’s last surviving murals, learned to imitate its style, then destroyed the wall—possibly by pushing it into a river—so no one else could learn the same secrets.

Legacy

Wu’s The Presentation of Buddha was featured in Chinese television presentations in 2004–2005.