01x07 - Liang and the Magic Paintbrush

[bunniefuu]

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go anywhere ♪

♪ Friends to know ♪

♪ And ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be anything ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

Don't blink! There's magic
in that paintbrush.

Brian tom is using it

To wake up the spirit
of that rainbow-colored lion.

Soon, that lion
will be ready to dance.

I'm in a very special
neighborhood

In the heart of new york city--
chinatown.

I'm enjoying the wonderful
sights, sounds, and flavors

Of a neighborhood
with a special way of life.

Lots of what you see here

Is probably much like
what you see in your own.

Other things
are deliciously different--

Eating bok choy or kumquats
for lunch,

Good-luck dragons
lurking on street signs,

And dancing lions.

Lions are one way
chinese culture is unique.

In western stories,
lions are often fierce,

But in chinese mythology,
lions help people

By chasing away evil spirits
and bringing good luck.

For thousands of years,

Chinese people
have done lion dances

To celebrate happy occasions,

Weddings, new year's,
even a store's grand opening.

Wise men feed the lions
lucky foods,

Lettuce and tangerines.

In return,
the lions bring good fortune.

Brian tom, the one putting on
the lion's head,

Started learning
the lion's dance when he was 6.

Only the best dancers

Are given the honor of
dancing inside the lion's head.

The musicians and dancers
make these lions come to life.

Making something come to life

Is part of the magic
of being an artist.

Imagine what would happen

If everything you drew
came to life.

That's what happens

In this book.

It's the storyf a boy
who wants to be an artist

More than anything in the world.

Long ago in china,
a boy named liang

Earned money gathering firewood
and cutting reeds.

His one wish was to paint,

But he could not afford
to buy a brush.

One day, he passed an art school
and went in.

"I want so much to paint,"
he said.

"Please, will you teach me?"

"What?" The teacher
glared at him.

"A beggar wants to paint?"

He drove liang away.

But liang could not
keep his fingers still.

When he went
to gather firewood,

He drew birds in the sand
with a twig.

One night as he slept,
an old maappeared on a phoenix

And placed a brush
in liang's hand.

"It is a magic paintbrush.

Use it carefully,"
the old man said

And flew away.

Liang jumped for joy.

"Thank you so much!"
He called after the old man.

Immediately,
liang began to paint.

He painted deer.

As he finished, he saw that
the deer came to life.

It really was
a magic paintbrush.

"I will paint things for
my poor friends," he thought.

He painted toy birds,

Horses,

Lanterns,

And balls for the children.

Then he went
to the marketplace

And set up a table
among the other merchants.

He made pictures of birds
to sell.

To make sure the birds
did not come to life,

He left something out.

One day, a man asked
for a picture of a crane.

Liang gave it only one eye.

But by accident,
one drop of ink fell

Where the second eye
should have been,

And the crane flew away.

Now everyone knew
about liang's magic brush,

Including the greedy emperor.

He went out
with all his soldiers

To take the brush
away from liang.

But liang
refused to give it up.

The emperor ordered him bound
and brought to the palace.

There the emperor ordered liang

To paint a dragon,

But liang
painted a toad instead.

Furious, the emperor
seized the brush

And ordered liang imprisoned.

The greedy emperor

Then sat down
to paint mountains of gold,

But they turned into rocks
and rolled off the table.

The emperor tried again.

He painted a large tree,
but what do you think happened?

It turned into
an enormous python

Which nearly
bit the emperor's head off.

Liang knew the brush
would lose its magic

In the emperor's hands.

He thought of a plan,
and he sent word to the emperor

Saying that in exchange
for his freedom,

He would paint
whatever the emperor wished.

The emperor accepted.

"Paint me the sea,"
the emperor ordered.

Liang drew a sea.

"Where are the fish?"
The emperor asked.

Liang drew and drew,

And soon a sea full of fish
were swimming about.

"So long as we have a sea,"
said the emperor,

"Let's have a boat."

Liang painted a boat,

Which was soon bobbing about
on the water.

Delighted, the emperor
called the royal family

To come and join him
on the boat.

"Paint some wind
so we can move,"

Cried the emperor.

Happily, liang painted wind,
and the boat began to rock.

"More wind!" The emperor cried.

Liang drew more wind
and more.

Soon, waves were splashing
and crashing over the deck.

"Enough!" The emperor cried.

But liang would not listen.

He drew so much wind,

The boat keeled over
and broke into a million pieces.

The emperor and the royal family
sank to the bottom of the sea.

The story of liang
and his magic paintbrush

Spread far and wide.

But what became of liang?

Nobody knows.

Some say that he went back
to his own village.

Others say
that he roamed the earth,

Painting for the poor
wherever he went.

Nobody knows
what happened to liang,

But I think a little bit of him
lives on in all of us.

Even ordinary chinese writing
like this

Looks like an artist's work.

Chinese calligraphy is the work
of highly respected artists

Who study for years
to develop their skills.

Dr. Leon chang is one of
the finest calligraphers

In the whole world.

Ink, ink stone, paper, brushes--

These are the four treasures
of the chinese calligrapher.

The words say "young friends"
in ancient chinese characters.

No work of chinese art
or calligraphy is finished

Until the artist
stamps his own special seal

In bright red.

Many chinese people,

Especially
artists and scholars,

Have their own seals,
just like this one.

It's like having
your own personal sign

Cut in stone.

It's beautiful, mr. Shu.
Thank you.

Mr. Shu
made this one@for me.

He's a master
seal carver

Who just came
to this country

From shanghai, china.

Carvers spend 20 years

Studying to
master their art.

They learn painting,
calligraphy,

Then how to
cut in stone.

The seal isn't
quite finished yet.

He has to put
the dedication on the stoneí

Dedication. Ah!

The dedication
is being carved

Into the soapstone

With a carving Kn*fe
that's very, very sharp.

Every artist
signs his work.

The dedication
is mr. Shu's signature

That this is
his work of art.

Hao.

Ok.

Finished?

Yeah.

What does
the dedication say?

"To mr. Levar
from mr. Shu."

Thank you.

Wo chan ni
zenme yong.

He'll show you how
to use the stamp.

What is this?
Is this ink?

Yes. It's called
vermilion.

Ah.

Get it all over there
like that, huh?

Press real hard,

And then just lift?

Ah.

The seal means

"Man who dwells
in the rainbow."

That's wonderful.

Can I put a stamp
in my book?

Yeah.

Like that?

Yeah.

There. Now
everyone will know

This book
belongs to me.

Mr. Shu is an artist
who works in stone.

The artists at the new york
institute of technology

Are creating pictures
using modern tools

That are part
magic paintbrush,

Part computer,
and part pure imagination.

Imagine painting with light
instead of paint.

It's like painting
with a rainbow

That has over


[Beep]

Painting with a computer
is similar to painting at home.

The difference is,

We use an electronic pen,
we use a tablet,

And we display our pictures
on a monitor.

Hi. I'm larry greene.

Welcome to the new york
institute of technology

Computer graphics lab.

I'm working on
the dragon boat

Liang was painting
for the evil emperor.

First, I use the keyboard
to start up the program.

Now we're ready to paint.

I made a special brush

To paint the body
of the dragon boat.

It puts in the textures for me.

Now we've got
all the patterns we need

For the dragon.

Now we'll change
the boat slightly

So it has more dimension.

To save time, I did
some drawings earlier.

I saved those drawings
in the computer.

I can recall them.

I put in a slithery,
red tongue and blue horns.

That's important to make
the dragon look glamorous.

And in come the emperor
and his slaves

Who will row the boat.

The oars are red

So they stand out
against the rest of the colors.

What happens if I want
to change something?

We can still make changes.

Watch what happens
when I magnify.

I changed the color
of the eyes to red,

But I don't think
red suits the dragon.

Green was the right choice.

Let's pick that green.

Now we're back to normal.

Let's put our dragon boat
in its proper setting.

Here we're combining
our anation

With the background
in our original
dragon boat painting.

There's a storm
brewing, too.

The clouds
are getting darker.

The water's getting rougher.

You can see why I like
working on the computer.

You can adjust things.

You can make some movement.

Before I say good-bye,

Let's see what happens
to the emperor.

One of my favorite things about
visiting chinatown is the food.

Chinese cooking
is really a very special art.

Instead of using
paintbrush, ink, and paper,

Or even computer
and light pen,

Some of the raw ingredients are
luobo, chinese white turnip,

Choy sum,
or baby bok choy,

Ginger,
and even lotus root.

All this is
making me hungry.

Let's go to
the mandarin inn pell

And see alex wong prepare
a feast fit for an emperor.

[Gong]

Alex, this smells delicious.
What is this?

I'm serving you
the grandma wong's
chicken soup.

What's in this now?

The whole chicken
cut in pieces,

Served with
fresh ginger
and scallions.

Boy, smells great.

It takes her
about three hours
to cook this.

Three hours
for one pot of soup?

Right.
Just for you.

I love chicken soup.

Try it.

Outrageous.

I love it.

Great.

What's for our main course?

You're having
mongolian beef.

While I'm eating my soup,
you'll prepare it?

Yeah.

It's very important
to keep the Kn*fe sharp.

That way you don't
cut your fingers.

I'm putting
the vegetable oil
in the wok.

The wok is a traditional
chinese cooking tool.

We can cook
lots of food in it
because it's deep.

It also heats up
the food evenly.

Alex, this looks great.

Mongolian beef,
alex's specialty.

Right.

Delicious.

I think
I'm finally beginning

To master the art
of eating with chopsticks.

Well, almost!

Delicious.
I love it.

What's for dessert?

We have candied bananas.

Candied bananas?
Great.

I'll finish this
while you get the bananas.

This is
the honey-candied
banana.

Outrageous.

This is
the candied banana.

How do you say thank you
in chinese?

Thank you in chinese
is xiexie.

Xiexie.

I can't possibly eat
all this food.

You must sit down
and join me.

Ichina, nobody eats
chinese fortune cookies.

They're strictly
a chinese-american invention.

For me, no chinese meal
is complete

Without one of these
curly, crunchy cookies

And a glimpse
into the future.

Let's see...

"You can't judge a book
by its cover."

Well, if you enjoyed
liang and the magic paintbrush,

Here are other books
you might like.

But don't take
my word for it.

My name is
jacovia cunningham.

I just finished
a terrific book named emma.

She was a lonely


One day she bought
paints and a brush.

She painted lots of things
and was never lonely again.

One of my favorite pictures
in the book

Was when emma and her cat

Sat in the sun
curling their toes.

My final statement is,

You can never be lonely
if you're creative.

That's what this book
is all about.

Signing off,
jacovia cunningham.

Hello, my name is
tina angracia.

If you like to draw,
I think you'll enjoy

If you take a pencil
by fulvio testa.

One of the nicest things
about the book

Is the illustrations.

If you look closely,

You'll see things

That are clues about
what happens later.

The last picture
was the best.

It was the mystery
of the whole story.

It took you
back to the beginning.

I think a pencil
is a real treasure.

Hi.
I'm anne michele harrington.

When I was 5 or 6,

I wished I could
play the piano.

I never got my chance
until I was 8.

In a way, it relates
to the book ben's trumpet

By rachel isadora.

Ben wants to play
the trumpet so much,

He pretends
he always has one.

One day he stood by
a jazz club.

Some boys said, "what do you
think you're doing?"

And he said,
"I'm playing my trumpet."

They said,
"you ain't got no trumpet!"

He started
to walk away sadly,

Just as the trumpeter
came out.

The trumpeter said,
"what's the matter?"

Ben said,
"I don't have a trumpet."

He said,
"we can fix that."

He let ben
blow on his trumpet.

Anne michele is telling you
to read this book

Because it says
never lose hope.

Everybody needs to hear that
once in a while.

Look, every color
in the rainbow.

The streets of chinatown
are especially magical at night.

It's as if someone
has painted the town

With a giant
magic paintbrush.

We haven't delved into
all of chinatown's treasures,

But now it's time
for the lion dance.

The chinese seem to make
an art out of ordinary things,

Even the way they celebrate
the opening of a new store.

Levar, would you
like to join us?

Would I love to!