Qīnghé shūhuà fǎng 清河書畫舫
The Calligraphy-and-Painting Boat of Qīnghé by 張丑 (Zhāng Chǒu, 1577–1635, 明, zhuàn 撰)
About the work
The single most important late-Míng connoisseur’s compendium. Compiled by Zhāng Chǒu of Kūnshān 崑山 in Wànlì yǐmǎo-to-bǐngchén (1615–1616), the Qīnghé shūhuà fǎng (in 12 juàn) records famous calligraphies and paintings — sometimes from Zhāng’s own collection, sometimes recorded from texts of other people’s collections, sometimes only by report. The title alludes to Huáng Tíngjiān’s poem-line “the calligraphy-and-painting boat of the Mǐ family” (米家書畫船) — Zhāng having acquired Mǐ Fú’s Bǎozhāng dàifǎng lù autograph KR3h0023 in Wànlì yǐmǎo (1615) and named his studio Bǎomǐxuān 寶米軒 in consequence. The Qīnghé tag is from Zhāng’s Kūnshān clan-seat. Zhāng’s connoisseurship was exceptionally well-informed — among his more famous corrections: he establishes Mǐ Fú’s life-dates as Huángyòu 3 (xīnmǎo, 1051) to Dàguān 1 (dīnghài, 1107) — 57 years — against the Sòngshǐ biography’s erroneous 48 years; this alignment with the Xīnmǎo Mǐ Fú seal-mark is now the standard. The book’s organisation by genre and within-genre by date became influential and was followed by Wāng Kěyù’s KR3h0060 Shānhú wǎng.
Tiyao
We have respectfully examined: Qīnghé shūhuà fǎng in twelve juàn, by Zhāng Chǒu of the Míng. Chǒu, a man of Kūnshān; originally named Qiāndé 謙德, zì Shūyì 叔益; later changed to the present name, zì Qīngfù 青父, hào Mǐān 米庵. Because in Wànlì yǐmǎo (1615) Chǒu obtained Mǐ Fú’s Bǎozhāng dàifǎng lù autograph, he named his studio Bǎomǐxuān, hence taking the hào. The next year bǐngchén (1616) the book was completed. Its title Shūhuà fǎng — taken from Huáng Tíngjiān’s poem-line “the Mǐ family’s calligraphy-and-painting boat.” The connoisseurial houses of the Míng had mostly slack evidential work; this compilation is exceptional in many corrections. For example, the Sòngshǐ’s biography of Mǐ Fú erroneously says he died at 48, but Mǐ Fú’s autograph traces in years after 48 are repeated; this is a deep doubt. Chǒu says: “Fú was born in Huángyòu 3 (xīnmǎo, 1051) and died in Dàguān 1 (dīnghài, 1107), aged 57” — agreeing precisely with the Mǐ Fú impression “Xīnmǎo Mǐ Fú” — sufficient to correct TuōTuō’s slip [the catalog’s “Tuō Kètuō” is rendered correctly here as TuōTuō, but the WYG transmits the slip — preserve the slip for the record]. The other items also have evidential backing. Only the colophons that Chǒu cites are not all from his sight of the autograph — many drawn from the various houses’ wénjí; and there are also some that he had not seen, only heard of and entered (e.g. the Wén Jiā Yánshì shūhuà jì entries on “Zhīshānwēng juǎn one,” “Wén Zhēngmíng cíhàn two” — these are evidently not from autograph). Further: juàn 3 entry on Gù Yěwáng, juàn 5 entries on Dù Mù, Lǐ Yángbīng, Sū Língzhī — these are entirely without sub-heading. Transmission has also caused some loss of collation. However, Zhāng’s house had four generations of collecting under earlier dynasties; the volumes seen were especially wide. Following Zhūshì’s Tiěwǎng shānhú KR3h0045 he is detailed on the inscriptions and seal-impressions, so over the past hundred years collectors have mostly used the book to distinguish genuine from false. The final juàn “Jiàngǔ bǎiyī shī” is Chǒu’s own Mǐān shī in 20 poems and Míngxīn xiǎojí in 81 poems, classed and appended to the collection. At the end of juàn 9 are appended Mǐ Fú’s Bǎozhāng dàifǎng lù KR3h0023 and at the end of juàn 12 Wén Tiānxiáng’s autograph correspondence — neither part of the original. They are Bào-family additions in their printing. The Bào edition does not divide into juàn but takes the twelve characters of “Yīngzuǐ zhuó huā hóng liū / Yànwěi diǎnbō lǜ zhòu” 鶯嘴啄花紅溜 / 燕尾點波綠皺 as the chapter-mark — applying Xiè Fāngdé’s Wénzhāng guǐfàn “wánghóu jiàngxiàng yǒu zhǒng hū” 王侯將相有種乎 seven-character scheme. But the Mǎshā commercial print is not authoritative; we have removed the old title and listed it under twelve juàn. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 46 (1781), fourth month.
Abstract
Zhāng Chǒu 張丑 (originally Qiāndé 謙德, later Chǒu; zì Qīngfù 青父; hào Mǐān 米庵, 1577–1635) was a major late-Míng connoisseur of Kūnshān, fourth-generation of an important Sòng-and-Yuán-piece-collecting family. The Qīnghé shūhuà fǎng is the principal late-Míng connoisseur’s compendium and the most influential single work in the genre after Zhū Cúnlǐ’s KR3h0044 Shānhú mùnán. Zhāng’s establishment of Mǐ Fú’s correct life-dates is one of the most precise pieces of late-Míng kǎozhèng in connoisseurship, and remains the modern standard. The work’s careful tracking of seal-impressions and colophons made it the principal modern reference for the authentication of SòngYuán pieces.
Translations and research
- Clunas, Craig. Superfluous Things: Material Culture and Social Status in Early Modern China. Cambridge: Polity, 1991.
- Cahill, James. The Distant Mountains. New York: Weatherhill, 1982.
- Wáng Liánqǐ 王連起. Sòng-dài shūhuà jiànbié yánjiū. Shanghai: Shanghai Shuhua Chubanshe, 2003.
- No standalone Western-language monograph on the Qīnghé shūhuà fǎng.
Other points of interest
The Mǐ Fú life-dates correction (1051–1107, 57 years) established here on the strength of the Xīnmǎo Mǐ Fú seal-impression — against the Sòngshǐ biography’s 48 years — remains the modern consensus.