After the war, he entered elementary school, where his second-eldest brother, 12 years his senior, was his art teacher. His brother had studied under the famous painter Chen Ching-hui, whose works had won islandwide competitions. Despite a real talent for art, Tsai was more interested in music, and enjoyed reading biographies of political figures such as Washington and Lincoln.
戰後，進入小學時，長他 12 歲的二哥擔任他的美術老師，二哥受教於知名畫家陳敬輝，作品曾獲全省美展第一名；然而在藝術上頗具天份的蔡曉芳對音樂卻更有興趣，又喜歡閱讀中外政治名人如林肯、華盛頓等人的傳記。