Manual of Painting: Introductory Volume

Editorial Guidelines 6

This collection captures two types of beauty Likely referring to the "refined" beauty of the scholar-official and the "popular" beauty accessible to the common person., achieving a work that can be appreciated by both the sophisticated and the common reader.

First, older editions of flower and plant paintings were either printed solely in black ink or utilized very basic color washes. These were often either crude and vulgar or merely repetitive imitations of what came before. It cannot be said that they were simply "commonplace"; rather, their methods were fundamentally flawed. In this edition, the various Master Wangs Referring to Wang Gai and his brothers, Wang Shi and Wang Nie, who were the primary artists and editors of the manual. have meticulously copied from the masters, exhausting the limits of a scholar's skill and exhausting the world’s store of wonders. This work is the pinnacle of beauty and goodness, a complete synthesis of the art. Compared to this, even the famous "Calligraphy and Painting Boat" of the Mi family original: "米家書畫船" (Mǐjiā shūhuà chuán). A reference to the Northern Song artist Mi Fu, who lived on a boat to store and display his vast collection of art. is hardly worth mentioning.

Second, the Master Wangs did not shy away from hard labor. For nearly twenty years, they have edited the works of the realm's literati friends. Spared no expense, they traveled everywhere to acquire authentic ancient masterpieces, filling their trunks and boxes to provide the best material for authentication. For every finished piece, any copy that did not reach perfection was refined further. The discarded drafts of paintings, poems, and inscriptions fill entire crates; though rejected, they are like fragments of gold and broken jade original: "碎金斷璧" (suìjīn duànbì); an idiom for small but precious fragments of literature or art.. These have all been preserved as a testament to the painstaking effort involved in producing this book.

Third, after the completion of this book, this workshop intends to publish many sequels. We pray that the literati of the realm will not be stingy with their ink and brushes and will allow us to borrow their light for our printing blocks original: "梨棗" (lízǎo); literally "pear and jujube," the woods typically used for carving printing blocks.. Contributions may be sent to the Mustard Seed Garden Son-in-law's Residence|甥館 (shēngguǎn), a respectful term for the residence provided by Li Yu for his son-in-law's family in Jinling Modern-day Nanjing., or to the Baoqing Pavilion Bookshop in Wulin Modern-day Hangzhou.. We shall gather these contributions like "collecting bits of fur from many foxes to make a robe" An idiom meaning to achieve a great task through many small contributions., treasuring each piece like a precious jade disk. We respectfully list the forthcoming titles below:

• Four Collections of the Manual of Painting
  • First Set: The Secret Transmission of Landscapes A comprehensive compilation of what was not included in the first collection of the Manual of Painting
  • Second Set: The Secret Transmission of Flowers and Plants A comprehensive compilation of what was not included in the second and third collections of the Manual of Painting