The eighth century Chinese painter Wu Daozi was commissioned by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong to paint a landscape painting to decorate a palace wall. The master painter had hidden the painting behind a screen so that only the Emperor could see it when desired. For quite some time, the Emperor admired the landscape containing forests, high mountains, waterfalls, clouds floating in an immense sky, men on hilly paths and flying birds. Then the painter pointed out a cave painted by him at the foot of the mountain and told the Emperor that a spirit lived in that cave. When the painter clapped his hands, the entrance to the cave opened. Then the painter explained that the inside of the cave was really worth seeing and offered to show the way to enter the cave. But, as soon as Wu Daozi entered the cave, the entrance closed behind him. Before the surprised Emperor could move or say anything, the landscape painting vanished from the wall. Not even the painter’s brush remained. In fact, Wu Daozi was never seen again. The landscape had been his last painting.
