At the beginning of the 17th century Chinese printers mastered the technique of producing colour prints from a number of separate wooden blocks, enabling them to imitate closely the effect of painted brushwork. One work, entitled The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, can be considered a successful example. The first part was published in Nanjing in 1679, while parts two and three appeared in 1701. The page shown here comes from Part Three, which is mainly a didactic manual of brushwork techniques, and is one of the full-colour illustrations designed by the painter Wang Gai (active about 1679-1705). This work may have been intended as model for emulation or as a work of art in itself.