Unearthing Wu Daozi (c. 686 to c. 760): The Concept of Authorship in Tang Painting

Worshipped by later folk artists as the god of painting, Wu Daozi (c. 686 to c. 760) was also praised by ninth-century art historian Zhang Yanyuan as someone who 'did not look back and will have no successors'. But alas, this 'Sage of Painting' (Hua sheng) left no work to us (imagine if we knew Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo only by reputation). Can archaeology remedy this unfortunate situation as it has done for so many other fields from classical philosophy to ancient science? How should we utilize possible archaeological evidence in studying painting practices? This essay suggests that a set of newly discovered imperial tomb murals may allow us to approach Wu's style more closely than ever before, and also leads us to problematize the concept of authorship in an age when individual authorship was inseparable from workshop practice.