Yìzhōu mínghuà lù 益州名畫錄
Record of Famous Painters of Yìzhōu (Chéngdū) by 黃休復 (Huáng Xiūfù, fl. early 11th cent., 宋, zhuàn 撰)
About the work
A three-juàn regional painting catalogue, focused on the artists active at Chéngdū 成都 (the ancient name of which is Yìzhōu 益州) from Qiányuán 乾元 (758) down to Qiándé 乾德 (963–968). The work is the most important Sòng source for the great Shǔ painting tradition that built up under the late-Táng and ShǔHàn courts in refuge after the An Lushan and Huangchao rebellions. Huáng Xiūfù treats 58 painters in four grades, here ordered yì (untrammelled), shén (divine), miào (wonderful), néng (capable) — with yì set in the highest position. This is the locus classicus of the high estimation of the yìpǐn and the single most important early statement of the theory: a painter is in the yìpǐn if his work “escapes the regular procedures of brush and ink” — the line directly invoked by all later literati-painting theorists. Single yìpǐn exemplar: Sūn Wèi 孫位.
Tiyao
We have respectfully examined: Yìzhōu mínghuà lù in three juàn, by Huáng Xiūfù of the Sòng. The front carries a preface by Lǐ Tián 李畋 dated Jǐngdé 3 (1006), which says: “Mister Huáng of Jiāngxià 江夏, named Xiūfù, zì Guīběn 歸本, mastered the Chūnqiū and the ZuǒGōngGǔ commentaries; sold cinnabar to support his parents; ranged his mind over the art of Gù [Kǎizhī] and Lù [Tànwēi] — deeply attaining their meaning.” Yet Xiūfù elsewhere has the Máotíng kèhuà 茅亭客話; Chén Zhènsūn’s Shūlù jiětí does not detail his hometown either, but since “much of what he says relates to Shǔ affairs” and he composed a Chéngdū mínghuà jì, suspects him to be a Shǔ man — so this book has the alternate title Chéngdū mínghuà jì. The old editions of both works lacked any indication of hometown, hence Chén Zhènsūn’s report; the present text gives “Jiāngxià”, which is probably a later supplement on the strength of Lǐ Tián’s preface. The book records 58 persons from Táng Qiányuán (758) to Sòng Qiándé (963), arranged in four grades: yì, shén, miào, néng. Yìpǐn one person; shénpǐn two persons; miàopǐn upper seven, middle ten, lower eleven, with twenty-two anonymously transmitted portrait-painters appended; néngpǐn upper fifteen, middle five, lower seven, with painters of unknown name or with names but no surviving paintings appended. The “Painting of the Sixth Patriarchs’ Hall of the Dàcí 大慈 monastery” is graded by Xiūfù as middle-miào, but is set at the end of the néngpǐn section and not aligned with the twenty-two portraitists — either miào is a misprint, or the editor’s hand was distracted in arranging. The Tián preface further says: “Yìdū, ever since the migrations of the two Táng emperors with their attendants making their seats here, became the meeting-place of the most accomplished painters from all directions.” So this book selects what bears on Shǔ matters, but the painters are not all Shǔ-born. Compare Dèng Chūn’s Huàjì KR3h0030 saying “Shǔ, however remote, had more painters than any of the four directions”; Lǐ Fāngshū 李方叔 records KR3h0020 Déyúzhāi huàpǐn and half the brush is Shǔ — so Xiūfù’s detailed record of Yìzhōu is no exaggeration. The text’s narrative is quite antique and refined, especially detailed in poetry, prose and historical allusion; it is unlike other painter-grades that loosely assign rank without specific reference. The Shūlù jiětí also says that the Zhōngxīng shūmù attributed it to Lǐ Tián and held Xiūfù’s book lost; this work has the Jǐngdé 3 preface that does not give an author name but clearly states that it records Xiūfù’s work, and has Xiūfù’s own preface as well — it was therefore never lost. Per Chén’s report, separate editions title only Lǐ Tián as author and do not regard the preface as Lǐ Tián’s; the present “Tián preface” therefore disagrees with the Sòng edition. However, all printed editions have “Tián preface” and we have no other evidence, so we have followed the old text and retained Tián’s name. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 44 (1779), eighth month. Chief compilers: Jì Yún, Lù Xīxióng, Sūn Shìyì.
Abstract
The Yìzhōu mínghuà lù’s theoretical preface to the yìpǐn — “the yìgé is hardest to fit into a scheme; it escapes proper procedures with brush as if effortlessly; it cannot be imitated and arises beyond intention” (筆簡形具，得之自然，莫可楷模) — is one of the foundational passages of all later Chinese painting aesthetics, and Huáng Xiūfù’s elevation of yì over shén (against Zhū Jǐngxuán KR3h0010, who had merely set it outside the rank) made the yìpǐn the supreme grade for the Northern Sòng literati and all subsequent traditions. The work’s regional focus is its second major value: Chéngdū after the An Lushan and Huangchao rebellions was the principal southern refuge for Táng court painters, and the only systematic record of the ShǔHàn 蜀漢 court painting establishment under the kingdoms of Former and Later Shǔ 前蜀 / 後蜀 — including the Huáng Quán 黃筌 family — survives in this work. Internal date: composed Jǐngdé 3 (1006), as evidenced by Lǐ Tián’s preface; Huáng’s own preface is undated but consistent with the same window. The title “Jiāngxià” attached to Huáng’s name is a later editorial insertion on the strength of Lǐ Tián’s preface, as the Sìkù editors note.
Translations and research
- Soper, Alexander C. “Yi-chou ming-hua lu: Famous Painters of Yi-chou by Huang Hsiu-fu.” Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America 4 (1950): 5–28.
- Bush, Susan, and Hsio-yen Shih, eds. Early Chinese Texts on Painting. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985, pp. 92ff. (yì-pǐn passage).
- Cahill, James. Three Alternative Histories of Chinese Painting. Lawrence: Spencer Museum of Art, 1988.
- Maeda, Robert J. “The ‘Water’ Theme in Chinese Painting.” Artibus Asiae 33 (1971): 247–290.
- Foong, Ping. The Efficacious Landscape: On the Authorities of Painting at the Northern Song Court. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2015 (uses Huáng on Shǔ painting).
Other points of interest
Huáng’s placement of yì above shén — overturning Zhū Jǐngxuán’s KR3h0010 original ordering — is the most consequential single move in the history of Chinese painting taxonomy and the theoretical foundation of literati painting’s self-understanding from Sū Shì onwards.