Gu Kaizhi (348-409), whose courtesy name was Changkang and whose nickname was Hutou, was Han nationality and a native of Wuxi, Jinling (now Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province). Outstanding painter, painting theorist and poet. Because he had great achievements in literature and painting, people called him Jue in painting, Jue in literature and Jue in art.
Gu Kaizhi was erudite and talented, good at poetry, calligraphy, and especially painting. He was good at portraits, Buddha statues, animals, landscapes, etc. People at that time called him the three masters: painting, writing and infatuation. Gu Kaizhi, Cao Buxing, Lu Tanwei, and Zhang Sengyao were collectively known as the "Four Great Masters of the Six Dynasties". Gu Kaizhi's paintings were intended to express the spirit, and his arguments such as "imagination is wonderful" and "describing spirit with form" laid the foundation for the development of traditional Chinese painting.
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Related allusions:
1. Obsession
Not long after Gu Kaizhi was born, his mother passed away. Gu Kaizhi said that other children had mothers, but he did not. He pestered his father and asked, "Why don't I have a mother?" His father said, "How come you don't have a mother?" Gu Kaizhi pursued her relentlessly: "Then what does my mother look like?" His father had no choice but to patiently describe it to him.
Gu Kaizhi drew portraits of his mother again and again based on his father's descriptions. Every time after he finished the painting, he would ask his father if it looked like him. His father would always express regret after confirming the drawing. But Gu Kaizhi was not discouraged and kept painting. It was only when his father's eyes shone and he said, "It's very similar," that he put down the painting with satisfaction. In this way, his mother will live forever in his heart.
2. Chizhi
"Shishuo Xinyu" said that Gu Kaizhi was uncharacteristically eating sugar cane. Others eat it from the sweetest part and throw it away when it is no longer sweet, but Gu Kaizhi eats sugar cane from the end, and the more he eats, the sweeter it becomes, and he gradually gets better. Gu Kaizhi's eating of sugar cane contains a profound philosophy of life, which can not but be said to be the great wisdom of life.
Baidu Encyclopedia—Gu Kaizhi