Huamanlu 畫墁錄

Huamanlu 畫墁錄 "Decorative depictions" is a collection of stories compiled during the late Northern Song period by Zhang Shunmin 張舜民 (c. 1034-c. 1100), courtesy name Yunsou 蕓叟, style Fuxiu Jushi 浮休居士 or Dingzhai 碇齋.

Zhang was a native of Binzhou 邠州 (present-day Binxian 彬縣, Shaanxi). After passing the jinshi examination, he served as magistrate of Xiangle 襄樂 and rose through official ranks to become an edict attendant (daizhi 待制) of the Longtu Pavilion 龍圖閣 and prefect of Dingzhou 定州. Due to his involvement in the factional controversies during the Yuanyou reign-period 元祐 (1086-1093), he was demoted to prefect of Shangzhou 商州. Later, he was reinstated as a senior compiler (xiuzhuan 修撰) in the Jixian Hall 集賢殿. Zhang Shunmin was exceptionally talented, skilled in poetry and painting, and his prose was bold yet well-reasoned. His collected writings are called Huaman ji 畫墁集.

The Huamanlu, with a length of 1 juan, is a collection of his "brush-notes"-style writings (biji 筆記). It contains many records of miscellaneous affairs from the Song period. It also includes numerous critical remarks on the official dynastic histories Xintangshu 新唐書 and Jiu wudaishi 舊五代史, expressing dissatisfaction with those works. The anecdotes and interesting stories it records about rulers and ministers of the Tang 唐 (618-907) and Song dynasties help fill gaps in standard historical biographies. Descriptions of mountains, rivers, and famous scenic sites that appear in the text are valuable materials for the study of historical geography. It also touches, to some extent, on the customs and practices of various regions under both the Liao 遼 (907-1125) and Song. Entries concerning poetry and ci criticism constitute important sources for literary history. Each entry stands as an independent piece, written in a careful and disciplined style.

The text is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Baichuan xuehai 百川學海, Baihai 稗海, Tang-Song congshu 唐宋叢書 and Shuofu 說郛.