Mojing huaba 墨井畫跋

Mojing huaba 墨井畫跋 is a collection of colophons on painting compiled during the early Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Wu Li 吳歷 (1632-1718), courtesy name Yushan 漁山, style Mojing Daoren 墨井道人 or Paixi Jushi 排溪居士, from Changshu 常熟, Jiangsu. His collected writings are called Taoxi ji 桃溪集 and Sanba ji 三巴集.

Wu Li inscribed on his own paintings. The collection includes sixty-three entries, although more than ten are not strictly painting colophons; a few later entries also describe local customs and scenery in Macau, and are unrelated to the paintings themselves. The rest are all self-inscribed. Although the Mojing huaba is composed of autograph inscriptions, its colophons cover a wide range of topics related to painting. Some reflect on the refinement and preservation of classical techniques. Many of Wu Li's colophons express his personal insights and experiences in the act of painting. Several passages demonstrate Wu Li's depth as both a painter and philosopher, blending aesthetics, Confucian humility, Daoist ease, and Zen-like clarity. The book reflects the same sparse elegance and distant clarity as Wu Li's paintings, qualities highly esteemed by later generations. Moreover, because many of these writings are drawn from lived experience, they have long been valued by both aspiring painters and scholars alike.

The text is found in the series Zhaodai congshu 昭代叢書 and Xiaoshi Shanfang congshu 小石山房叢書.