''Wu Shuang Pu'' () is a book of

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

prints, first printed in 1694, early on in the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. This book contains the biographies and imagined portraits of 40 notable heroes and heroines from the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

to the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, all accompanied by a brief introduction and guided by a related poem in

yuefu ''Yuefu'' are Chinese poems composed in a folk song style. The term originally literally meant "Music Bureau", a reference to the imperial Chinese governmental organization(s) originally charged with collecting or writing the lyrics, later the ...

style. The illustrations from the book were widely distributed and re-used, often as motifs on Chinese porcelain. The original book has a

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

what says Nanling, that's why the book is also known as Nanling Wu Shuang Pu. A re-edition of this book from the year 1699 is kept in the

National Museum of China The National Museum of China () flanks the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The museum's mission is to educate about the arts and history of China. It is directed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic ...

. In January 2006, an original hand-painted book of Wu Shuang Pu was sold at the Chongyuan auction house in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

for 2.86 million CNY, some 440,000 Dollar (GBP 320,000). The

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

Mao Qiling {{family name hatnote, Mao (毛), lang=Chinese} Mao Qiling ({{zh, t=毛奇齡, s=毛奇龄, p=Máo Qílíng, w=Mao Ch'i-ling; 1623–1716) was a Chinese scholar and philologist of the early Qing Dynasty. A native of Xiaoshan in Zhejiang provin ...

praised the book in the preface, he felt that the prose in this book formed a trinity with the

poems Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

and prints. The painter of Wu Shuang Pu is Jin Shi (金史, c.1625-1695), who was known as Jin Guliang (金古良), born in Shanyin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China). Jin Guliang was inspired by

Chen Hongshou Chen Hongshou (1598–1652), formerly romanized as Ch'en Hung-shou, was a Chinese painter of the late Ming dynasty. Life Chen was born in Zhuji, Zhejiang province in 1598, during the Ming dynasty. His courtesy name was Zhanghou (章侯), and hi ...

and was following the examples of

Cui Zizhong Cuī Zǐzhōng (; died 1644) was a Chinese people, Chinese Painting, painter during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). Cui was born in Laiyang in the Shandong province. His style name was 'Daomu' and his sobriquet was 'Qingying'. Cui specialized ...

, who initiated the first major revival of figure painting since the Song Dynasty. Jin Guliang compiled the book together with woodcarver Zhu Gui.

Included biographies

Selected republications (Chinese)

* *

References

External links

* * The Gotheborg Antique Chinese and Japanese Porcelain Collector's Help and Info Page and Forum. Retrieved August 7, 2021 * {{Authority control Chinese books Chinese-language books 1694 books 17th-century prints