张僧繇

張僧繇

Zhāng Sēngyóu

proper noun

Meanings

1 Zhang Sengyou (active early 6th century), Liang-dynasty painter of Buddhist murals, hero of the legend of the dragons that flew away

Characters

Examples

HSK 4

张僧繇是梁朝的著名画家。

Zhāng Sēngyóu shì Liángcháo de zhùmíng huàjiā.

Zhang Sengyou was a famous painter of the Liang dynasty.

HSK 7-9

传说张僧繇在寺庙的墙上画了四条龙，却没有画眼睛。

Chuánshuō Zhāng Sēngyóu zài sìmiào de qiáng shàng huà le sì tiáo lóng, què méiyǒu huà yǎnjing.

Legend says Zhang Sengyou painted four dragons on a temple wall but left out their eyes.

Tips

culture

He is the painter of 画龙点睛: when people insisted, he dotted in the eyes of two of the dragons, which broke out of the wall in a thunderstorm and flew off, while the two without eyes stayed where they were. He is one of the 六朝四大家, the Four Great Painters of the Six Dynasties.

mistakes

繇 reads yóu in his name. In the name of the calligrapher 钟繇 the same character reads yáo.

Stroke Order

张 zhāng

僧 sēng

繇 yáo