1. Who is the painter mentioned in the story?
Answer: The painter mentioned is Wu Daozi.
2. In which century did Wu Daozi live?
Answer: Wu Daozi lived in the eighth century.
3. What was Wu Daozi’s last painting?
Answer: His last painting was a landscape.
4. Who commissioned Wu Daozi’s last painting?
Answer: The Tang Emperor Xuanzong commissioned it.
5. Where was the painting meant to be displayed?
Answer: It was meant to decorate a palace wall.
6. Why was the painting hidden behind a screen?
Answer: So that only the Emperor could see it.
7. How did the Emperor react to the painting?
Answer: He admired the wonderful scene in the painting.
8. What natural elements were shown in the painting?
Answer: Forests, high mountains, waterfalls, clouds, birds, and hilly paths.
9. What did Wu Daozi point out in the painting?
Answer: He pointed out a cave at the foot of a mountain.
10. What did Wu Daozi say about the cave?
Answer: He said that a spirit lived inside the cave.
11. What happened when Wu Daozi clapped his hands?
Answer: The entrance to the cave opened.
12. How did Wu Daozi describe the inside of the cave?
Answer: He described it as splendid and beyond words.
13. What did Wu Daozi offer to do for the Emperor?
Answer: He offered to show the Emperor the way inside.
14. What did Wu Daozi do next?
Answer: He entered the cave.
15. What happened to the cave entrance after he entered?
Answer: The entrance closed behind him.
16. What happened to the painting after that?
Answer: The painting vanished from the wall.
17. What was left of Wu Daozi’s painting?
Answer: Not a trace of his brush was left.
18. What happened to Wu Daozi after the incident?
Answer: He was never seen again in this world.
19. What type of story is this described as?
Answer: It is described as an anecdote.
20. What role did such stories play in China’s classical education?
Answer: They played an important role in guiding students.
21. Which thinkers’ books contained such stories?
Answer: The books of Confucius and Zhuangzi.
22. What purpose did these stories serve for masters?
Answer: They helped masters guide their disciples in the right direction.
23. What does the word “anecdote” mean in this context?
Answer: A short and meaningful story.
24. What do these stories reveal beyond entertainment?
Answer: They reveal the spirit in which art was considered.
25. How was art viewed according to the text?
Answer: As something deeply spiritual and meaningful.
26. What does the phrase “illusionistic likeness” suggest?
Answer: Art that closely resembles reality.
27. What does “delicate realism” mean in context?
Answer: Subtle and refined representation of reality.
28. What kind of painting is Wu Daozi associated with?
Answer: Figurative and landscape painting.
29. Why is Wu Daozi’s story described as wonderful?
Answer: Because it blends art, imagination, and spirituality.
30. What is the central idea of the passage?
Answer: The spiritual and philosophical view of art in Chinese tradition.
Answer by Dimpee Bora
