Chinese painters and their Greek counterparts in Asia Minor had been great rivals since the beginning of time, each considering themselves superior to the other. No one was truly able to say whose style was more sophisticated or which painters’ works were more beautiful. This rivalry had gone on for much too long, and the sultan of Rum, in Asia Minor, had become weary of the tireless backbiting on both sides.
Finally, he decided to stage a competition to establish once and for all which painters were the most accomplished and the worthiest of their time. The sultan decided to assign two of his empty cottages, which faced each other on the palace grounds, to the two groups of competing contestants.
The Chinese were to occupy one cottage, while the Greek painters were to live and work in the one opposite. They had one month to present their projects to the sultan.
The Chinese were eager to begin work and asked for numerous colors of paint, immediately setting out to draw their designs on the walls of their house. The Greeks asked for nothing. They had brought with them special stones for polishing the surface of the walls. Shortly after arrival in their cottage, they began the grueling task of rubbing down the residue of many years of rot and decay that covered all the walls in their cottage.
It took the Greek painters, countless hours of arduous work to remove the effects of many years of wear and tear on the aged walls, old paint, and mildew that they had scrubbed and polished over and over again. Meanwhile, their Chinese counterparts were busy applying layers and layers of paint, beautifying their own designs as they covered over what remained of the old paint.
The Greek painters were well aware of the art of the Chinese and were familiar with their methods. The Chinese, though, had no idea what the Greeks were up to, People were impatient to see what the great artists of their time had been working on and could hardly wait a day longer. After a month of labor, at last the artists were ready to show their masterpieces to the ultimate judge, the sultan.
The judging day was upon them, and both groups of painters impatiently awaited the sultan’s arrival. Musicians filled the palace grounds, and people danced and made merry while awaiting the final results to be called out. The sultan eventually arrived with his entourage and went directly to view the Chinese chef- d’oeuvre. The designs and colors applied to the walls of the small cottage had transformed it into a grand palace of dreams! He had never seen such beautiful art in his life and was astounded. It took the sultan a very long time to detach himself from the beauty that surrounded him and to step outside the cottage.
Having seen what the greatest artists might possibly achieve, he was now exceptionally curious to see what the Greek painters had created. Reluctantly, he left the cottage of the Chinese painters and walked across to the other cottage, which was hidden from view by an enormous curtain. He ordered the curtain to be drawn back and instantly understood the miracle that the Greek painters had achieved.
Before the sultan stood the decrepit cottage, which in fact, no longer seemed old or dilapidated. The mildew and stains of the past had been patiently and laboriously removed. The artists had scrubbed, polished, and refined the walls to the extent that everything, including the Chinese paintings in the cottage opposite, was perfectly reflected onto them, exemplifying their purity. The work of the Chinese painters, in all its complexity and beauty, was manifested in the art of the Greek painters’ simplicity and transparency, thus rendering it unfathomably more glorious.
The sultan could not hide his amazement at how the Greek painters had managed to re-create beauty in its purest form, creating the perfect state. He had no doubt which group had the superior artists.
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