Shizhuzhai huapu 十竹齋畫譜

Shizhuzhai huapu 十竹齋畫譜 "Painting album from the Ten-Bamboos Studio" is a comprehensive painting anthology produced using colour woodblock techniques, such as the multi-block (douban 餖版) and the (coloured) background pattern (gonghua 拱花) methods, which flourished during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644). It was compiled and printed by Hu Zhengyan 胡正言 (1584-1674), courtesy name Yuecong 曰從, style Shizhu Zhuren 十竹主人, from Xiuning 休寧, Anhui. Carving of the album began in 1619 and was completed in 1627; in 1633, the volumes of the painting album (huapu 畫譜) were assembled into a complete set.

The work comprises eight sections in sixteen fascicles, bound in butterfly binding. It contains 180 paintings and 176 pages of text, with each image accompanied by a poem. It includes works by over 150 Ming-period painters and calligraphers, including Hu himself. The eight sections are: Calligraphy and Painting (Shuhua ce 書畫冊), Bamboos (Zhupu 竹譜), Flowers (Mohua ce 墨華冊), Stones and Rocks (Shipu 石譜), Birds and Beasts (Lingmao pu 翎毛譜), Plum Blossoms (Meipu 梅譜), Orchids (Lanpu 蘭譜), and Fruits (Guopu 果譜). Each section includes a preface and introductory text. The colours are elegant and refined; the carvings are graceful and robust, making it a precious work that combines painting, calligraphy, and woodblock print art. Its woodblocks are finely carved, and its colours are brilliant; with layered tones ranging from light to rich, the images appear vivid and lifelike, representing the highest level of multicolour woodblock printing.

In 1934, Lu Xun 魯迅 (1881-1936) and Zheng Zhenduo 鄭振鐸 (1898-1958) commissioned the Rongbao Studio 榮寶齋 to recut the blocks; the work was later included in Zheng's "Illustrated History of Chinese Woodblock Prints", Zhongguo banhua shi tulu 中國版畫史圖錄. After careful investigation and collation, the Duoyun Studio 朵雲軒 in Shanghai produced a complete edition of the masterpiece, including a preface, postscript, and other materials, and published it in September 1985.