Art by the Book This page intentionally left blank Art by the Book Painting Manuals and the Leisure Life in Late Ming China J. P. Park a china program book University of Washington Press Seattle and London this book is made possible by a collaborative grant from the andrew w. mellon foundation. Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the Millard Meiss Publication Fund of the College Art Association. Publication of this book is also supported in part by the James P. Geiss Foundation; the China Studies Program, a division of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington; and the Eugene M. Kayden Endowment at the University of Colorado. © 2012 by the University of Washington Press Library of congress Printed in the United States of America cataLoging-in-pUbLication Data 18 16 14 13 12 5 4 3 2 1 Park, J. P. Art by the book : painting manuals and the lei- All rights reserved. No part of this publica- sure life in late Ming China / J. P. Park. — 1st. tion may be reproduced or transmitted in any  p. cm. form or by any means, electronic or mechani- Includes bibliographical references and index. cal, including photocopy, recording, or any ISBN 978-0-295-99176-4 (cloth : alk. paper) information storage or retrieval system, with- 1. Art and society—China—History—Ming out permission in writing from the publisher. dynasty, 1368–1644. 2. Painting, Chinese— Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. China—Social University of Washington press life and customs—960–1644. I. Title. II. Title: p.o. Box 50096, Seattle, Wa 98145 U.s.a. Painting manuals and the leisure life in late www.washington.edu/uwpress Ming China. N72.S6P313 2012 759.951'09031—dc23 2011039283 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi Z39.48-1984.∞ This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Chronology of Chinese Dynasties xiii Introduction William Shakespeare, a Great Painter? 3 1. Genre and Biography 27 2. Words without Images 84 3. Portraits of the Characteristic 120 4. Icons of Love and Marginality 166 5. The Art of Being Artistic 190 Coda: The Late Ming at the Crossroads 213 Appendix 1: Locations and Editions of Late Ming Painting Manuals 217 Appendix 2: Lost Manuals and Albums of the Ming Dynasty 223 Notes 225 Glossary 257 Bibliography 267 Index 293 Plates follow page 178 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments SOMETIME IN LATE 2002, I WAS HAVING A CASUAL CONVERSATION WITH A historian ofJapanese art at the University of Michigan. I don’t recall the exact context, but for some reason our conversation turned to the topic of links between Chinese and Japanese art. Among the issues we discussed, one topic, the export of Chinese painting manuals to Japan in the Edo period, became a particular interest of mine, once I realized how little I knew about it. Late Ming painting manuals apparently were one of those areas that everybody in the field had heard of and talked about, yet, surprisingly, resources about them remained few and far between. Just out of curiosity, I began to research them, and I soon identified one work that was the starting point of the painting manual fervor in late Ming China. After one semester’s consideration and research, I chose this as my new primary research focus, and it has proved a fruitful and rewarding topic. Over the past few years, I have discovered a range of new information and ideas on the genre, and this volume is my report on the history and significance of the manuals. My research has led me from country to country, from city to city, and to various archives to study these publications and other relevant materials. I am especially grateful for the assistance of Dr. Mi Chu Wiens at the Library of Con- gress in Washington, D.C., Kilja Dacosta Song and Dr. Nathalie Monnet at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), Tsao Huei-chung at the Musée Gui- met in Paris, Liu Qiang at the Qinghua University Library, Mr. Ma Xiao-He at the Harvard-Yenching Library, Dr. Martin Heijdra and Dr. Soren Edgren at the Princeton University Library, Mr. Wu Ge at the Fudan University Library, Mr. Zhao and Ms. Dong Rui at the National Library of China in Beijing, Maki