In the past dynasties, craftsmen’s guilds engaged in paint painting and sculpture all regarded Wu Daozi as their ancestor. There are very few historical records of Wu Daozi, but there are many folklore...
It is said that when Wu Daozi first learned painting, he studied under an ordinary painter, who did not even leave his name in history. Although the old painter himself has not achieved any outstanding achievements in painting, he knows how to teach art. He was good at teaching and taught all his painting skills to his student Wu Daozi without reservation. When he found that his disciple's painting skills had surpassed his own, he magnanimously suggested that Wu Daozi choose another high school to continue his studies. What is even more valuable is that he used the experience and lessons he summarized throughout his life to educate his disciples that if they want to achieve outstanding achievements, they must break the rules and dare to take a road that has not been traveled before. When Wu Daozi was about to leave his master and go abroad to study, the old painter said something meaningful to him: "Daozi, master has lived his whole life as a village painter. Now your technique is indeed superior to mine. With your skills If you have the skills, you can go out and make a career. However, you have to remember what I say: if you want to succeed in your career, you must 'do not stick to the rules and find a new way.'"
"Don't stick to the rules and find a new way. "The eight characters are the fruit of half a lifetime of hard work by the old painter. He worked hard at painting for many years and was mediocre, but he learned from his own lessons that if you want to achieve something, you must not follow the rules and create boldly. He told his disciples this hard-earned experience and lesson without reservation, showing his tireless and noble character. The phrase "Don't stick to established methods, find new ways" became Wu Daozi's motto for his lifelong study and struggle. He followed the teacher's path to constantly innovate and move forward.
After Wu Daozi left his master's degree, he followed the instructions of "not sticking to established methods and finding new ways" and first broke the old framework in learning. He went against the traditional way of learning painting and did not worship painters as his teachers. Instead, he became a disciple of calligrapher Zhang Xu and studied creatively. Zhang Xu is a famous Kuang Cao calligraphy master in the Tang Dynasty. He is praised for his eclectic and creative spirit. People praise him as "Kang", which is an affirmation of his creative spirit. Wu Daozi learned calligraphy from Zhang Xu. On the one hand, he absorbed nutrients from his cursive calligraphy art, and on the other hand, he learned from Zhang Xu's creative spirit. After hard work, he finally integrated calligraphy and painting into one, and pioneered the "orchid leaf drawing" technique. When he completed this learning task and was about to leave Zhang Xu, he told Zhang Xu what was in his heart. He said: "My disciple originally studied painting, but unfortunately all the techniques in today's painting world are outdated. I am determined to innovate. Fortunately, I saw my mentor's calligraphy by chance, and his brushwork was majestic. I suddenly realized that if I could use calligraphy to paint, I could change it. The previous generation's painting style, so he became a disciple of his mentor. Now the disciple has said goodbye and wants to travel to mountains, rivers and temples to recreate his landscape painting skills!" Wu Daozi's bold creative spirit made Zhang Xu, who has always been brave in creation without following ancient methods, deeply impressed. Admire. He had to admit: "He is extremely smart and crazy, and he is born with no peer in the world!"
After that, Wu Daozi followed his master's teachings of "not sticking to established methods, but finding new ways" and traveled around the magnificent rivers and mountains of the motherland, learning from nature. . Inspired and cultivated by the rich and colorful nature, he created "splash-ink freehand landscape painting" that does not require outlining and freehand brushstrokes, and finally became a famous painter with pioneering spirit in the history of Chinese art.
The emergence of Wu Daozi is a glorious page in the history of Chinese figure painting. He absorbed folk and foreign painting styles and established a new national style. He also respected Wu Daozi as "the sage of painting of all generations".