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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=373358" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>A Song Of Painting: To General Cao Ba</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">You, General Cao Ba,<br>descendant of Cao Cao,<br>now live as a peasant,<br>a cold-door commoner.<br>Your ancestor's heroic age<br>carved out kingdoms of old,<br>and its cultural brilliance, its style,<br>still survive in your work.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">To learn calligraphy<br>you first studied Lady Wei;<br>your only regret was not surpassing<br>the great Wang Xizhi .<br>You said, 'Caught up in my painting,<br>I give no thought to old age;<br>riches and rank are to me<br>no more than clouds floating by.'<br>Often summoned to court<br>during the Kaiyuan period,<br>frequently you ascended the dais<br>to receive the Emperor's praise.<br>In the Gallery of Famous Men<br>the noble faces were fading;<br>going to work with your brush<br>you brought back their freshness.<br>On the ministers' heads you repainted<br>their hats of office,<br>at the waists of the fierce generals,<br>their great feathered arrows.<br>The Duke of Bao and Duke of E--<br>so lifelike their hair bristles--<br>stand grim, bold and heroic,<br>as if in the midst of battle.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The late Emperor's imperial horse,<br>Jade-Flower Dapple,<br>had been painted by artist after artist,<br>but none could capture his essence.<br>One day he was led into the courtyard<br>below the red steps of the palace;<br>standing there by the palace gates<br>he embodied the wind of the plains.<br>At the Emperor's command<br>you stretched white silk to paint on;<br>calling up all of your skill,<br>you formed the image in your mind.<br>In a flash, from the nine-fold heavens,<br>the true 'dragon' emerged!<br>At one stroke, the horse paintings of ages<br>were obliterated.<br>When the painting was taken up<br>and hung above the throne,<br>the horse on the wall and that in the yard<br>gazed proudly into each other's face.<br>Smiling, the Emperor hastened his aide<br>to bring a handsome reward;<br>stable-boys and grooms stood long-faced,<br>jealous of His Majesty's favor.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Your pupil Han Gan was long since<br>shown all your techniques;<br>he too can paint horses,<br>horses in every stance imaginable,<br>but Gan paints only the outer flesh,<br>not the strength that lies beneath;<br>his brush would dampen the spirit<br>of legendary Hualiu!</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The General is a superb painter<br>because he captures the essence.<br>In the past you often rendered<br>likenesses of distinguished men;<br>in the present troubled times,<br>uprooted and homeless,<br>you are reduced to painting portraits<br>of humble passersby.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">So desperate are your straits, you put up<br>with the snubs of commoners--<br>never in the world<br>has anyone been as poor as you!<br>But look at the lives of famous men<br>throughout history--<br>they too were forced to deal<br>with endless frustrations</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Du+Fu">Du Fu</a><div class=q>
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<script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=373358" data-title="A Song Of Painting: To General Cao Ba de Du Fu" data-description="You, General Cao Ba,
descendant of Cao Cao,
now live as a peasant,
a cold-door commoner.
Your ancestor's heroic age
carved out kingdoms of old,
and its cultural brilliance, its style,
still survive in your work.

To learn calligraphy
you first stu..."></div>
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