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Shufa jinghua 書法精華 "Essentials of calligraphy" was written during the high Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Liu Yong 劉墉 (1719-1804), courtesy name Chongru 崇如, style Shi'an 石庵, Qingyuan 青原, Xiangyan 香岩 or Riguangfeng Daoren 日觀峰道人, from Zhucheng 諸城, Shandong. His highest positions were Minister of Personnel (libu shangshu 吏部尚書), and Grand Academician of the Eastern Palace (Dongge daxueshi 東閣大學士). His posthumous name is Liu Wenqinggong 劉文清公. Liu's collected poems are Shi'an shiji 石菴詩集.
The Shufa jinghua compiles insightful discussions and relevant materials on calligraphy (or Chinese characters) from the Qin 秦 (221-206 BCE) and Han 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) dynasties to the Yuan 元 (1279-1368) and Ming 明 (1368-1644) periods. The first of the 8 juan is dedicated to the basics of calligraphy (Shufa 書法), and the second focuses on the structure of characters and the momentum of the brush (Tishi 體勢). Juan 3 expounds upon the qualitative and aesthetic ranking of calligraphic works (Pinping 品評). Fascicle 4 provides the theoretical background on certain aspects of calligraphy (Lunyi 論議). Chapter 5 (Xulu 叙錄) presents narrative discourses on calligraphy, chapter 6 includes introductions (Xuji 序記), chapter 7 presents official documents (Qijian 啓牋), and the final part comprises songs and poems (Geshi 歌詩) related to the field.
All parts of the book quote extensively from older texts on the art of calligraphy.
The oldest modern print dates from 1924, published by the Tushu Gongsi 圖書公司 in Shanghai.