Tian Zifang (7)

1 Yuan, the king of Song wanted to find a painter to paint his portrait. He called on all painters to take part in a tryout in his palace. In the tryout, there was a story.

2 For the king’s calling, painters reached the palace. The early ones sat in the room; the later ones stood outside. Officers in palace customarily closed hands to greet them. The painters stood up and bowed reverently in return. And then the painters in the room took their painting brush to show their talent.

3 There was a guy standing among the painters outside. He came later but he did not scramble forward and crane to see the painters inside painting liked others. Not only was his attitude uncaring, but he sat there on a look of conceit without moving when the officer came and made the registration for him. The officers distasted his careless look of conceit, so they washed him out directly and let him go home.

4 The king looked on him coolly and found that he was different from the others. The king was burning with curiosity to know more about this guy, he ordered his officer to follow him for detailed investigation. After returning to the Palace, the officer reported to the king. “The guy took off his clothes when he was backing home. In nude of upper body, he started his painting work as if nothing had happened.”

5 The King Yuan smiled, “It is him. I decide to assign the painting job to him.”

6 Later, the guys painted a very good portrait of the king with great verve. His ministers asked him, “Why did you choose him?”

7 The king explained, “So many painters strived for the job of painting my portrait. Their motivation was no more than fame and interest. He who attaches much importance on fame and interest is not able to produce a good portrait.

8 The guy neglected fame and interest so he didn’t care for the candidate. Greeted, he sat still, which meant that he was aweless of the officers. Therefore, he could give himself a full play in painting my portrait, without any misgiving.

9 Additionally, he didn’t care about the performances of inside painters, which meant that he was very confident, not caring about others. For these reasons, I decided to choose him. The consequence proved that I was right.”