Catalogue of Calligraphy of the Xuanhe Era

AnonymousJun 2024

4.3

Word count: 51K words
Chapters: 19

Summary

Traditional Chinese thought has a long history and is highly original, inventive, and literary. Its early forms are distinctive: religious theology, classical Chinese medical texts, ancient military strategy, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and the Hundred Schools of Thought, feng shui and metaphysical studies, the Twenty-Four Histories, and local customs and geography—all are profound and extensive. This series, "Essence of the Classics: Original Texts of Chinese Culture," preserves the original appearance of the books and focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture. By reading the literary essence left by ancient sages, readers can cultivate character and subtly come to appreciate the classics of Chinese learning.

Editor's review

Xuanhe Shupu is a specialized Song-dynasty catalogue of calligraphy held in the imperial collection, arranged by category such as successive emperors and famous masters, with a short biography of each calligrapher and an appraisal of the script attached to each work. It is an important primary source for understanding the transmission of calligraphy from the Jin and Tang to the Northern Song. Part of the "Essence of the Chinese Classics: Original Texts" series, this volume preserves the original appearance of the book and focuses on recording and transmitting traditional thought and culture; it is suited as a companion reader for calligraphy history and art-historical sources. Its value lies not in offering modern critical conclusions but in showing how people of earlier times recorded and ranked calligraphy, allowing readers to observe the discourse of traditional artistic evaluation. It should be read alongside catalogues of calligraphy works or histories of calligraphy rather than imagining the originals from text alone. For readers concerned with bibliography, the conventions of painting-and-calligraphy cataloguing, and the cultural mechanisms of the Song dynasty, the book is especially useful.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying the history of Chinese calligraphy who need primary catalog sources
Scholars and graduate students in ancient art-historical sources and bibliography
Culture enthusiasts wishing to understand Song imperial painting-and-calligraphy collecting and appraisal conventions
Readers of Chinese classics who prefer primary texts over secondhand overviews

Not a good fit for

Beginners hoping to learn calligraphy techniques and copy models visually from plates
Casual readers expecting modern vernacular appreciation and entry-by-entry explanation
General readers impatient with classical catalog conventions who need strong storytelling

Reading tips

Read the contents and explanation of conventions first to grasp the classificatory framework, then closely read selected entries on emperors or famous masters.
Keep a history of Chinese calligraphy or a chronological table of calligraphers at hand to check figures and historical context.
Excerpt calligrapher biographies and appraisal remarks onto cards, comparing the evaluative language used for different masters.
Mark unfamiliar official titles and script terminology first, then look them up together after finishing a category.

版权信息
卷一
卷二
卷三
卷四
卷五
卷六
卷七
卷八
卷九
卷十
卷十一
卷十二
卷十三
卷十四
卷十五
卷十六
卷十七
卷十八

FAQ

What does Xuanhe Shupu mainly record?

It catalogues calligraphy held in the Song imperial collection, arranged by categories such as emperors and famous masters, with a short biography and script appraisal for each work, along with calligraphers' lives and artistic lineages. It is an important source for studying the transmission of calligraphy from the Jin and Tang to the Northern Song and Song court collecting.

Can I read this book without a foundation in calligraphy?

You can, but there is a threshold. The book is a classical Chinese catalogue with much terminology and no plates. It is best to have some basic knowledge of calligraphy history or to read it alongside general histories; otherwise it is easy to stop at the literal level and miss what the appraisals refer to.

What does it mean that this edition preserves the original appearance of the book?

According to the publisher's note, the series focuses on preserving and transmitting traditional Chinese thought and culture and retains the original appearance of the book. Readers should expect the arrangement and classical wording of a traditional catalogue rather than a modernized, item-by-item annotated popular edition, and should confirm the specific annotation conventions before use.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.