Xiǎoshān huàpǔ 小山畫譜
Manual of Painting of the Little-Mountain Master by 鄒一桂 (Zōu Yīguì, 1686–1772, 清, zhuàn 撰)
About the work
A 2-juàn handbook on flower-and-plant (huāhuì 花卉) painting by Zōu Yīguì 鄒一桂 (zì Xiǎoshān 小山, hào Ràngxiāng 讓鄉, of Wúxí 無錫, 1686–1772), a Yōngzhèng dīngwèi (1727) jìnshì who rose to Nèigé xuéshì and Vice-Minister of Rites. Juàn 1 opens with the Bāfǎ Sìzhī 八法四知 — Zōu’s distilled theory of flower-painting. The Bāfǎ (Eight Methods) are: (1) zhāngfǎ 章法 (composition); (2) bǐfǎ 筆法 (brushwork); (3) mòfǎ 墨法 (ink); (4) shèsè fǎ 設色法 (colouring); (5) diǎnrǎn fǎ 點染法 (dotting and washing); (6) hōngyùn fǎ 烘暈法 (warm-shading); (7) shùshí fǎ 樹石法 (tree-and-rock); (8) táichèn fǎ 苔襯法 (moss-and-ground). These are largely drawn from previous theorists. The Sìzhī (Four Knowings) — (1) zhī tiān 知天 (know the heaven, i.e. light and season); (2) zhī dì 知地 (know the earth, i.e. soil and habitat); (3) zhī rén 知人 (know people, i.e. the cultural tradition of the flower); (4) zhī wù 知物 (know the thing, i.e. its botanical character) — are Zōu’s own and the work’s most distinctive theoretical contribution. The work then catalogs 115 named flowers with detailed descriptions of leaf, stem, blossom and colour, followed by 11 entries on the preparation of pigments. Juàn 2 distils 43 sayings from previous painters with Zōu’s comments, gives notes on glue-and-alum sizing, paper-and-silk, palette and brush, water — and closes with a Yángjú pǔ 洋菊譜 (manual of Western/foreign chrysanthemums) appended. Zōu painted 36 species of “western chrysanthemum” by imperial command in Qiánlóng bǐngzǐ (1756) leap ninth month; the Yángjú pǔ records the names, grades and forms of these. Zōu had married into the Yùn 惲 family — son-in-law to Yùn Shòupíng 惲壽平 (the great Cháng-zhōu-school flower painter, 1633–1690) — and the influence is visible.
Tiyao
We have respectfully examined: Xiǎoshān huàpǔ in two juàn, by Zōu Yīguì of the present dynasty. Yīguì, zì Xiǎoshān, hào Ràngxiāng, of Wúxí, a Yōngzhèng dīngwèi (1727) jìnshì, finally Nèigé xuéshì with the rank of Vice-Minister of Rites. This compilation discusses flower-and-plant painting method. The upper juàn first lists the Bāfǎ Sìzhī. The Bāfǎ: (1) zhāngfǎ, (2) bǐfǎ, (3) mòfǎ, (4) shèsè fǎ, (5) diǎnrǎn fǎ, (6) hōngyùn fǎ, (7) shùshí fǎ, (8) táichèn fǎ — all distilling previous masters’ subtle discussions. The Sìzhī: (1) zhī tiān, (2) zhī dì, (3) zhī rén, (4) zhī wù — these the previous masters have not reached. Next, the named flowers, classified — 115 species in all — each detailing flower-and-leaf form and colour. Next, the use of pigments — 11 entries — each detailing the method of preparation. The lower juàn first selects past masters’ painting-discussions and intersperses Zōu’s own ideas — 43 entries — appended with glue-and-alum, paper-and-silk, huàdié (mixing-saucer), brush, and water-use methods, ending with the Yángjú pǔ. Yīguì in Qiánlóng bǐngzǐ (1756), leap ninth month, was commanded to paint 36 species of yángjú (western chrysanthemum); he was favoured with imperial-titled poems, and accordingly respectfully recorded the flowers’ names, grades, and forms, making this manual to record the favour. At that time the painting-manual was already cut to print, hence appended to the end. Yīguì was the son-in-law of the Yùn family; his flower-painting received Yùn Shòupíng’s transmission. This compilation though brief in piānzhì contains many xīndé (heart-grasped) sayings. Respectfully collated, Qiánlóng 43 (1778), sixth month [from the combined tíyào with KR3h0072].
Abstract
The Xiǎoshān huàpǔ is the principal Qīng-era theoretical handbook on flower painting. Zōu Yīguì married into the Yùn family at Chángzhōu and absorbed the Mòjīng 沒骨 (boneless-line) flower-painting tradition founded by his father-in-law Yùn Shòupíng (1633–1690). The Bāfǎ Sìzhī framework, particularly the Sìzhī of tiāndìrénwù, is the theoretical core of late-Qīng flower-painting practice and was widely cited in the Yáng-zhōu-school context. The Wúxí provenance and Yùn-family link place the manual squarely within the Jiāngnán flower-painting tradition. The Yángjú pǔ appendix of 1756 documents the introduction of new chrysanthemum cultivars under court patronage at the Qiánlóng court — a key entry-point for the history of botanical illustration in eighteenth-century China.
Translations and research
- Cahill, James. Pictures for Use and Pleasure: Vernacular Painting in High Qing China. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010.
- Vinograd, Richard. Boundaries of the Self: Chinese Portraits, 1600–1900. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
- Chuáng Yǔn 莊申 (Chuang Shen). Zhōng-guó huà-shǐ yánjiū xù-jí. Taipei: Zhèngzhōng shū-jú, 1972.
- Wáng Shìxiāng 王世襄 (ed.). Zhōngguó huàlùn yánjiū 中國畫論研究. Beijing: Sānlián shūdiàn, 2013. [Includes Zōu Yīguì’s Bā-fǎ Sì-zhī in standard form.]
Other points of interest
The work’s Sìzhī — zhī tiān, zhī dì, zhī rén, zhī wù — was an influential early-Qīng theoretical framework for tying painted representation to material observation; it anticipates and dovetails with the Géwù zhìzhī approach to natural-history illustration developed in Hángzhōu and at the court in the same generation.