At that moment, one famous artist disappeared from the world, while two happy artists with their hearts well-connected, worked harmoniously, to bring joy and beauty to all corners of the world. (Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons)
SOH’s Ancient Tales of Wisdom brings stories that enrich the core of our essential nature. Today’s storyline reveals of how a life lived with conscious kindness and humility always wins the prize, be it in seen and unseen, or told and untold ways.
Welcome to the SOH Radio Network, the home of Ancient Tales of Wisdom. Hello again, this is Grace Mann. Today’s story from Ancient China is simply titled: Two Artists.
There was once an old artist who had two equally diligent and gifted students. He taught them everything he knew and, eventually, they became quite famous. They were Master Zhang and Master Ding.
After their teacher passed away, Master Zhang and Master Ding both wanted to explore their artistic futures. Before they parted, Master Zhang said, “Our teacher used to say that you and I are equal in our abilities. Why don’t we each bring our best piece back here after five years? Then we can take a look and decide who is better.”
Master Ding said with a smile, “Of course, that sounds fine.”
After they said good-bye, Master Zhang travelled all over the world, saw the best scenery, and learned from various cultures. His paintings were created one after the other. His popularity was rising and so was the price of his paintings. Master Zhang was really enjoying his accomplishments. He thought, “It is not quite five years, but I have advanced so quickly. In fact, I think my improvements are nothing short of miraculous. On the contrary, no one has yet to mention Master Ding. I am sure that I can easily win this contest.”
When the five year mark arrived, Master Zhang was quite confident and took his best painting to where they were supposed to meet. Master Ding was already there and he welcomed Master Zhang with a big smile and empty hands.
Master Zhang was not happy. He said “we agreed to bring our best paintings and you come empty-handed. How are we going to make a comparison?”
Master Ding looked at his gray-haired classmate and said, “Dear friend, it is not that I wanted to come empty-handed, it is because I simply didn’t have a picture to bring with me.”
Master Zhang thought, “I bet this is an excuse and that he is just afraid of losing the competition.” So he asked Master Ding why he didn’t have a painting with him.
Master Ding replied, “Even though I could not bring my paintings, I can show them to you.”
With that, Master Zhang followed along with Master Ding, and they walked all over town. Master Zhang was very surprised to find all of Master Ding’s paintings hanging throughout the various buildings in the town. Every picture was better than the previous one.
The little town was cosy and quaint and filled with an artistic atmosphere. Originally, everyone in the town was not well-educated, though now they were well refined in their manners and temperament. The way they carried themselves was just like they were depicted in the paintings.
Everybody always respectfully acknowledged Master Ding. Seeing this, Master Zhang was a little jealous and asked, “Did they hire you to do all these paintings? You must have a fortune by now!”
Master Ding smiled and said, “When we went our separate ways 5 years ago, I thought how much hard work it was for our teacher to teach us. So, I decided to give something back to the people in this town. After I finished my first picture, they were very courteous toward my paintings and were moved by the beauty of my work. They then invited me to stay here and continue to paint.
At first, they were afraid I would charge them a lot of money, but I told them that I would do it for free, and my only request was that they provide me with my daily meals.
Master Zhang was astonished to hear that Master Ding painted for free, “How come you are so foolish? You could earn a lot of money!”
With tears in his eyes Master Ding said, “Actually, these people helped me immensely. To begin with my skill was not that good, and initially, when they saw my work, they didn’t know how to pay me compliments, though they were always very kind and sincere. With such encouragement, my paintings gradually became better and better. How could I ask anything more for my work?”
Master Zhang felt ashamed after hearing this. In his mind, the value of a piece of art was determined by its price. His thought was, the higher the price, the more valuable the artwork.
Then Master Zhang said, “Master Ding you have won the five-year contest. Your paintings are invaluable and cannot be bought with money, whereas my paintings can. Your paintings can bring changes to countless people, but my paintings are nothing but a part of rich peoples’ decorations. I think that I deserve to lose – and you have allowed me to understand the true value of art. Let me learn from you! Let’s work together and create more beauty for the world!”
They then hugged each other and wept. Master Ding was then no longer lonely in his creative world with Master Zhang by his side. At that moment, one famous artist disappeared from the world, while two happy artists with their hearts well-connected, worked harmoniously, to bring joy and beauty to all corners of the world.
Thank you for joining us again on Ancient Tales of Wisdom. Stay tuned to the SOH Radio Network for more of these heart warming tales.
I’ll be with you again real soon, until then, laugh lots, be happy and let humility be a noble guide – in our daily lives.
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