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Baozhang daifang lu 寶章待訪錄

May 23, 2023 © Ulrich Theobald

Baozhang daifang lu 寶章待訪錄 "Visit of the Gallery of Preserving Clarity" is a short book on calligraphy written during the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126) by the famous artist Mi Fu 米芾 (1051-1107). The title of the book is derived from the name of an imperial studio of the Tang period 唐 (618-907), Baozhangge 寶章閣, where calligraphic artworks were collected.

The text is a type of list of calligraphies from the Jin 晉 (265-420) to the Tang period owned by various collectors of the time. With this kind of catalogue, Mi attempted to preserve information on art collections. The book is divided into two parts, namely calligraphies that Mi had personally seen (Mudu 目睹, with 55 paragraphs), and such of which he had heard of (Diwen 的聞, with 29 paragraphs). Some information of the catalogue is identical with Mi Fu's book Shushi 書史 (Mi Haiyue shushi 米海嶽書史), which was written later, quite probably on the base of the Baozhang daifang lu. Nonetheless, both books have to be consulted to obtain a clearer picture of the collector’s landscape of Song-period China.

It is included in the series Baichuan xuehai 百川學海, Wangshi shuyuan 王氏書苑, Shuofu 說郛, Shuyuan buyi 書苑補益, Hubei xianzheng yishu 湖北先正遺書, Mi Xiangyang zhilin 米襄陽志林, Meishu congshu 美術叢書, Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編, and is appended to the book Qinghe shuhua fang 清河書畫舫.

Sources:
Beijing Dongfang Shoucangjia Xiehui 北京東方收藏家協會, ed. (1996). Zhonghua shoucang da cidian 中華收藏大辭典 (Beijing: Beijing Yanshan chubanshe), 29.
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰, ed. (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典 (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe), Vol. 2, 1802.
Li Yongqiang 李永强 (2008). "Mi Fu Baozhang daifang lu chengshu yu Song Zheyong Yuanyou yuan nian xianyi 米芾《寶章待訪錄》成書於宋哲宗元祐元年獻疑", Zhongguo shufa 中國書法, 2008 (11): 52-54.
Wu Feng 吳楓, ed. (1987). Jianming Zhongguo guji cidian 簡明中國古籍辭典 (Changchun: Jilin wenshi chubanshe), 557.