The faith of a painter

Praise for literary purity

Poet and critic Ouyang Jianghe has praised The Thangka Painter for its literary quality. He argues that the sense of "purity" once found in Chinese literature as a public and historical value has largely faded, yet Dai succeeds in reviving it in the novel.

According to Ouyang, this purity emerges in two ways. It is reflected in the contemplation of sacred images as the subject of painting, and in the creative energy the novelist brings to the work — a force capable of bringing together diverse artistic techniques into a unified whole.

"When Dai describes the creation of a thangka, the narrative slows dramatically, as though time itself has stopped. Rather than relying on the technical language of modern art theory, he writes with spiritual insight," Ouyang says.

"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent," Ouyang quotes Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, who believed human language has its limits when talking about deeply abstract things like ethics, the sacred or the meaning of life.

Literature, however, can approach the inexpressible through patient, nuanced description, he argues. Dai demonstrates this in the novel as Mado, though unable to hear or speak, gradually brings an unseen sacred world to life through his brush.

Ouyang also points to the novel's treatment of thangka pigments. Created from rare minerals often more valuable than gold, the pigments are painstakingly ground and applied by hand. The process transcends commercial value, reflecting the spiritual discipline at the heart of thangka painting.

He also believes the relationship between Mado and Gexiangjiu rises above conventional romance, embodying a rare spiritual purity.

Film director Zhang Yang, whose Paths of the Soul is also set on the Tibetan Plateau, praises Dai's deeply researched portrayal of Tibetan religious life, everyday customs and the region's landscapes, saying the novel evokes vivid, cinematic images.

Although grounded in reality, the story also reaches beyond realism. Mado and Gexiangjiu's connections across time and space, together with its depictions of memory and near-death experiences, create a rich poetic imagination that Zhang believes is inherently cinematic.

A film adaptation of The Thangka Painter is now in development, with Mao Dun Literature Prize-winning Tibetan writer A Lai serving as a consultant.