Xuanhe Painting Catalog, Volume 1

Image of the Pagoda-Carrying Heavenly King, 1
Image of the Northern Gate Heavenly King, 1

Image of the Heavenly King, 1
Image of Wang Xizhi, 1

Image of Five Horses, 1
Image of Marici Bodhisattva a Buddhist deity associated with light and the sun, 1

Zhang Sengyao was a man of Wu. During the Tianjian era 502–519 AD, reign of Emperor Wu of Liang, he served as General of the Right and Governor of Wuxing. He became famous at the time for his danqing painting (lit. vermilion and azure). Whenever Emperor Wu of Liang, who resided with his various princes outside the capital, missed seeing their faces, he would send Sengyao on an express carriage to paint their likenesses. Upon returning, viewing the paintings was like seeing the people themselves. At the Temple of the Heavenly Emperor in Jiangling, there was a Cypress Hall where Sengyao painted Vairocana the Celestial Buddha and Confucius. When the Emperor saw them, he found it strange that Confucius was associated with the Buddha and asked Sengyao about it. Sengyao replied, "In the future, we will rely on this to remain safe." He also once painted four dragons at the Anle Temple in Jinling without painting their eyes, saying that to do so would cause them to soar away. People thought this was absurd and insisted he paint them. As soon as his ink touched the eyes of two dragons, lightning and thunder shattered the wall, and upon closer inspection, the paintings had disappeared. Only the two dragons without eyes remained.