Wu Daozi was a Chinese painter who lived in the eighth century. Tang Emperor Xuanzopg employed him to decorate a palace wall. The Emperor was very happy with the painting. It had forests, high mountains, waterfalls, clouds floating in the sky, men on hilly paths and birds in flight. Once the painter told the Emperor that in that cave, at the foot of the mountain, there lived a spirit.
The painter clapped his hands and the entrance to the cave opened. Inside the cave was splendid beyond any verbal expression. Then the painter entered the cave, but the entrance closed behind him. Before the astonished Emperor could move or utter a word, the painting had vanished from the wall. Neither a trace of Wu Daozi’s brush nor the artist was seen again in this world.