Painting the Dragon's Eyes
Classical Stories · No. 59 — The painter whose finished dragons flew away.
- Classical Stories
- 37 min
- Ages 8–13
- 6 chapters
About this audiobook
The great painter Zhang Sengyou paints four dragons on the wall of a temple in the ancient city — dragons so lifelike they seem to breathe, coiling among painted clouds. But he leaves all four eyeless. When people ask why, he says that if he paints in the eyes, the dragons will fly away. They laugh at him and press him to finish. At last he gives in and dots the eyes of two of the four. The moment the brush lifts, the sky darkens, lightning splits the air, and the two eyed dragons burst from the wall and soar into the storm-clouds, gone forever — while the two still eyeless dragons remain on the wall to this day. The city learns, too late, that the master was not boasting.
Why it's worth a listen
A master painter covers a temple wall with four magnificent dragons — and leaves every one of them without eyes. When mocked and finally badgered into finishing two of them, he lifts his brush, dots the pupils, and thunder cracks: the two dragons tear from the wall and vanish into the storm. The origin of a Chinese saying still used today for the final touch that brings something to life.
A question to keep
What is the one small thing that turns good work into something alive?
Chapters
- The Wall in the Anle Temple
- The Blankness in the Gaze
- The Whispers of the Doubters
- The Promise of the Brush
- The Spark of Life
- A Question to Keep