Chapter 117 finishing touch

There was a great painter in the Southern Dynasties named Zhang Sengyou. There are many folk legends about his paintings. It is said that he painted four white dragons on the wall of Anle Temple in Jinling, which were vivid but without eyes.The monks and the audience asked him to put on the eyes of the dragon, but he said, "You can't do it. With the eyes, the dragon will become alive and fly away... Of course, everyone didn't believe it. They asked him to put on the eyes. Such a good painting." What a pity not to finish.Zhang Sengyou couldn't help it, just after lighting the eyes of the two dragons, there was a thunder and lightning, and the two dragons broke through the wall and left.Everyone was terrified, so no one dared to let Zhang Sengyou nod his eyes for the remaining two.

He also once painted two Indian monks, which were later dismantled into two volumes after the "Hou Jing Rebellion", with a monk on the first volume.In this way, it has been handed down to the Tang Dynasty, and it is scattered in two collections.One day, two collectors dreamed at the same time that two Indian monks came to ask him to try to put him and his lost companion together.The collector did so, and his illness was healed. There is a Xingguo Temple in Runzhou. In the main hall, there are turtledoves, pigeons and other birds perched on the beams, defiled the Buddha statue.They can't be killed, they can't be killed, and they can't be blown away. The monks have nothing to do with them.At this time, Zhang Sengyou knew and said, I can solve this matter.The monks didn't believe it, and thought to themselves, so many of us have nothing to do with these birds, so what can you do?I saw Zhang Sengyou painted an eagle on the east wall of the main hall, and a kite on the west wall. They all looked out of the eaves. Since then, turtledoves, pigeons, and no birds have dared to come again up.

These legends all illustrate the status of Zhang Sengyou's works in the hearts of the masses. In history, Zhang Sengyou was the most active painter during Emperor Wu of Liang (502-549 A.D.).At this time, it was the time when the Longmen Grottoes were excavated and Buddhist art flourished in the Northern Wei Dynasty.Therefore, he was born in accordance with the times and became a great painter who inherited the past and ushered in the future. Zhang Sengyou was very diligent in painting, and he was described as "he couldn't put down his pen...he didn't have a moment's leisure".He has a high ability of realism. He once made portraits of the princes who were entrusted by Emperor Wu of Liang in various places.He painted the appearance and clothing of various characters in ancient and modern times, which are very realistic.He had a wide range of influences. His sons Shanguo and Rutong were also good at painting. The painters in the late Southern and Northern Dynasties were mostly influenced by him.He founded the "Zhang Jiayang" in Buddha painting and sculpture, which was the most widely popular Chinese style before the appearance of Wu Daozi in the Tang Dynasty.Critics of the Tang Dynasty believed that Zhang Sengyou had many talents and was one of the most accomplished painters of the previous generation.

He once used the Tianzhu method to paint "concave and convex flowers" on the gate of Yicheng Temple in Nanjing, "made of vermilion and green. From a distance, the eyes are dizzy like bumps, and myopia is flat."As a result, people were very surprised and called this temple "Ao Convex Temple".