The Legend of Wu Daozi, the Painting Sage

Wu Daozi, the great painter, was exceptionally gifted from childhood and was hailed by ordinary people as the God of Painting. Tigers he painted could bite, and rabbits could run. He excelled at painting gods and ghosts. Legend has it that the Dunhuang Flying Apsaras, the Mogao Caves, the Longmen Grottoes, and temple murals all feature his masterpieces. The surviving rubbing of his work, Scroll of the Eighty-Seven Immortals, is an artistic masterpiece without equal. The strangest folk tale says that Wu Daozi’s painting of a cricket and cabbage was actually a modern-day weather station. Come and see: all the stories are in this book, and they’re truly wonderful!