Three Impossible Tasks A Tale from Old China

THE SHOPS OF Hepu were filled with fresh goods. Trees were trimmed, streets swept. City gates were refurbished. Why? The new governor general and his family were soon to take up residence in the city.

Hepu’s Buddhist temple, especially popular for its lovely statue of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, was also being refurbished. Guanyin radiated all that was gentle, graceful, and compassionate. People prayed to her and left offerings and donations, which the monks used to keep the temple in good repair. With the impending arrival of the governor general, the monks hired a young artist to decorate the temple’s wooden beams and repaint the chipped and faded artwork.

Pei was overjoyed to have gotten the job, his first major commission. Once well along in his work, he noticed a group of worshipers praying to Guanyin. Among them were the newly arrived governor general’s daughter and her attendants.

he thought. He painted her face quickly, as though he already knew it by heart, and composed four