Numerous
legends gathered around Wu Daozi, often concerning commissions by
Emperor Xuanzong. In one, Emperor Xuanzong called him to paint a wall of his palace. He painted a wall mural displaying a rich nature-scene set in a valley, containing a stunning array of flora and fauna and including a cave at the foot of a mountain. The story goes that he informed the emperor that it's not just what the emperor is able to see, Wu Daozi has made this painting in such a way, that a spirit dwells in the cave. Next, he clapped his hands and entered the cave, inviting the emperor to follow. The painter entered the cave but the entrance closed behind him and, before the astonished emperor could move or utter a word, the painting vanished from the wall. This story depicts the spirituality of art. The contemporary Swedish writer
Sven Lindqvist meditates on this legend and the challenge that it poses to modern aesthetics in his book,
The Myth of Wu Tao-Tzu. Another legend states that Emperor Xuanzong sent Wu Daozi to
Sichuan to study the green waters of the
Jialing River in order to complete a mural of its entire course. Supposedly, Wu returned without sketches and rapidly painted the entire river from memory, completing the 300-
li account It is sometimes added that his technique was foiled by
Li Sixun, who accompanied him and followed the traditional practice of working slowly from numerous prepared sketches. To the extent that it is grounded in a real event, however, it probably only reflects Wu's speed of execution and not a lack of reliance on sketches. Another has it that a painter found one of the last surviving murals of Wu Daozi and learned to imitate the style. He then destroyed the wall, possibly by pushing it into a river, to ensure that no one else could learn the same secrets. ==Legacy==