Dai Kui

CHINA, Anhui, Suzhou; Eastern Jin dynasty

Dai Kui was an artist, scholar, and musician born in Zhixian (present day Suxian, Suzhou). He later resided in Shanxian, Kuaiji (present day Shengzhou, Zhejiang). As a boy, he was smart and dexterous, and in his teens, he spent time painting at Waguan Temple in Jiangsu. He was adept in painting portraits, landscapes, animals, and Buddhist images. Also immensely skilled in sculpting, he was said to have restored the bronze Buddha statue in Waguan Temple. He created the innovative technique of dry lacquer for use on Buddhist statues.
According to Famous Paintings in History, Dai sculpted two 20 m high wooden statues of Amitabha Buddha and Bodhisattvas. When the statues were seemingly completed, it is rumored that Dai hid himself behind the curtain to hear what people remarked. He then made changes according to the criticism he heard over the following 3 years and the statues were eventually sent to Lingbao Temple in Zhejiang. These statues, alongside the image of Vimalakirti painted by Gu Kai, and the Emerald Buddha given by Sri Lanka, are reputed as part of the Three Wonders of Waguan Temple. The Painting Annals of the Zhengguan Period also records a few of his paintings, including a mural of Manjusri Bodhisattva.