Wu Tao Tzu had the greatest influence on the painting of the Far East. What Michelangelo Buonarroti was to the West, he was to the Far East. His life coincided with the “golden age of Chinese culture”, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (712-756) of the Tang dynasty.
He was born around 689 in a poor family in Yangzhou, in the province of Henan. His artistic talent awakened in early childhood. Even as a child, he helped paint Buddhist temples. Buddhist monk Chang Hsu taught him calligraphy, which left an indelible mark on all his works. Soon, Wu Tao Tzu surpassed his teachers.
Detail of the mural “Eighty-Seven Celestial Beings”, Wu Tao Tzu
Once, while on an outing with Prince Ling, he painted a mural in just one day, depicting a hundred miles of landscape along the Chia Ling River.
When he painted General Pei Min, he asked him to perform a sword dance. The painting was completed at the same moment as the dance.
Wu Tao Tzu’s work was I am under imperial protection for the rest of my life. We don’t know when he died and under what circumstances, but it is assumed to have been around the year 758. He painted around 300 murals, but none of them have been preserved. Only a few copies of his later works exist.