The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, part 3, insects and flowers, vol. 1
Colour Woodblock Print
1701 (published)
1701 (published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden (Jieziyuan huazhuan), sometimes known as Jieziyuan huapu, is arguably the most influential painting manual produced during the Qing Dynasty. Many renowned Chinese painters, like Qi Baishi (1864-1957), began their drawing lessons with the manual.
The work was commissioned by Shen Xinyou, son-in-law of the famous playwright Li Yu, whose mansion in Jinling (now Nanjing) was known as Jieziyuan or Mustard Seed Garden. Shen possessed the teaching materials of Li Liufang (1575-1629), a painter of the late-Ming Dynasty, and commissioned Wang Gai (ca.1645-ca.1710) to edit and expand those materials with the aim of producing a manual for painting. The result was the first part of Jieziyuan Huazhuan, which, published in 1679, comprises five juan or volumes. The first volume deals with the general principles of landscape painting, the second the painting of trees, the third that of hills and rocks, the fourth that of figure and houses, and the fifth comprises the selected works of great landscape painters. Two more parts, which deal with the painting of flora and fauna, were produced by Wang and his two brothers in 1701. Shen promised a forth part on figure painting, but never published one. In the early 19th century, it was produced by some quick profit-seeking publisher. Chao Xun (1852-1917), dissatisfied with the low quality of this sequel, produced his own version, as well as carefully reproduced the first three parts. Today the reprint of the manual is usually based on Chao's version.
The V&A acquired
The work was commissioned by Shen Xinyou, son-in-law of the famous playwright Li Yu, whose mansion in Jinling (now Nanjing) was known as Jieziyuan or Mustard Seed Garden. Shen possessed the teaching materials of Li Liufang (1575-1629), a painter of the late-Ming Dynasty, and commissioned Wang Gai (ca.1645-ca.1710) to edit and expand those materials with the aim of producing a manual for painting. The result was the first part of Jieziyuan Huazhuan, which, published in 1679, comprises five juan or volumes. The first volume deals with the general principles of landscape painting, the second the painting of trees, the third that of hills and rocks, the fourth that of figure and houses, and the fifth comprises the selected works of great landscape painters. Two more parts, which deal with the painting of flora and fauna, were produced by Wang and his two brothers in 1701. Shen promised a forth part on figure painting, but never published one. In the early 19th century, it was produced by some quick profit-seeking publisher. Chao Xun (1852-1917), dissatisfied with the low quality of this sequel, produced his own version, as well as carefully reproduced the first three parts. Today the reprint of the manual is usually based on Chao's version.
The V&A acquired
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, part 3, insects and flowers, vol. 1 (published title) |
| Materials and techniques | Colour prints from woodblocks |
| Brief description | Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden, part 3, insects and flowers, vol. 1, dated 1701; Pap, China, prints |
| Physical description | A volume of The Painting Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden, Part IV, an illustrated book designed by the painter Wang Gai and printed by the colour woodblock process, dated 1701, Qing dynasty. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Limited edition |
| Marks and inscriptions | 莖受露而將低, 香從風而自逺 |
| Credit line | Given by Miss Alexander |
| Object history | This copy of The Painting Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden, Part 3 was taken at some early stage to Japan before it finally ends up in the V&A museum. The painting manuals, this book in particular, were treasured in Japanese as well as in China. At the time this copy came into the museum, it was part of a group of the copies of several later editions, including a Japanese one (E.4771-1916; E.4772-1916; E.4774-1916; E.4775-1916). |
| Historical context | This book is part of Miss Alexander's gift to the museum in 1916. The gift comprises a great number of Japanese prints. |
| Production | Opinion given by Prof. Thomas Ebrey - independant scholar (USA), seen in V&A stores November 2011: The four large volumes of Jie zi yuan huazhuan were especially interesting (E.4777, 4778, 4779, 4780-1916). They were the full color prints from Part III of the the JZY, and are from the first, 1701 edition. They are in very good condition. While not of the very earliest printings (like the set in the recent National Library of China facsimile reproduction volumes and the set in the Liaoning Provincial Museum), they are from about the same time (and in much better condition) as the set in the Daitokyu Library in Tokyo, of which a very expensive facsimile edition was recently published. And much earlier than the Kansas City first edition. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden (Jieziyuan huazhuan), sometimes known as Jieziyuan huapu, is arguably the most influential painting manual produced during the Qing Dynasty. Many renowned Chinese painters, like Qi Baishi (1864-1957), began their drawing lessons with the manual. The work was commissioned by Shen Xinyou, son-in-law of the famous playwright Li Yu, whose mansion in Jinling (now Nanjing) was known as Jieziyuan or Mustard Seed Garden. Shen possessed the teaching materials of Li Liufang (1575-1629), a painter of the late-Ming Dynasty, and commissioned Wang Gai (ca.1645-ca.1710) to edit and expand those materials with the aim of producing a manual for painting. The result was the first part of Jieziyuan Huazhuan, which, published in 1679, comprises five juan or volumes. The first volume deals with the general principles of landscape painting, the second the painting of trees, the third that of hills and rocks, the fourth that of figure and houses, and the fifth comprises the selected works of great landscape painters. Two more parts, which deal with the painting of flora and fauna, were produced by Wang and his two brothers in 1701. Shen promised a forth part on figure painting, but never published one. In the early 19th century, it was produced by some quick profit-seeking publisher. Chao Xun (1852-1917), dissatisfied with the low quality of this sequel, produced his own version, as well as carefully reproduced the first three parts. Today the reprint of the manual is usually based on Chao's version. The V&A acquired |
| Bibliographic reference | An English translation of the work, The Tao of Painting - A study of the ritual disposition of Chinese painting, with a translation of the Chieh Tzu Yuan Hua Chuan or Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting 1679-1701, was made by Mai-mai Sze and published in New York in 1956. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.4777:19-1916 |
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| Record created | November 8, 2018 |
| Record URL |
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