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Xu shupu 續書譜

Aug 30, 2012 © Ulrich Theobald

Xu shupu 續書譜 "Continued notes on calligraphy" is a book on calligraphy written during the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Jiang Kui 姜夔 (1161-1203?), courtesy name Yaozhang 堯章, style Baishi Daoren 白石道人. Jiang hailed from Raozhou 饒州 (modern Boyang 波陽, Jiangxi) and was a famous poet and musician of his time.

His short book Xu shupu was written as a supplement to Sun Guoting's 孫過庭 (646-691) Shupu 書譜 from the Tang period 唐 (618-907). It includes a preface and 20 chapters, but the chapters Zaorun 燥潤 and Jinmei 勁媚 have no content. The planned text of the first is probably integrated in the chapter Yongmo 用墨. The arrangement of the chapters in the second half of the received book is different from the listing in the catalogue Peiwenzhai shuhua pu 佩文齋書畫譜.

The text of the Xu shupu is very clear and much easier to understand than the surviving part of Sun Guoting's book. It is also not much theoretical but describes very practical matters, like the concentration of the ink for different styles of script. It was therefore also regarded as an important early contribution on the practice of calligraphy. The Song-period scholar Zhao Bize 趙必睪 had written a commentary on Jiang's book, the Xu shupu bianwang 續書譜辨妄, which is unfortunately lost.

The Xu shupu is included in the series Baichuan xuehai 百川學海, Gezhi congshu 格致叢書, Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編, Wangshi shuhua yuan 王氏書畫苑, Baijia mingshu 百家名書 and Siku quanshu 四庫全書.

Table 1. Contents of the Xu shupu 續書譜
1 總論 General discussion
2 真書 The standard script
3 用筆 The use of the brush
4 草書 The grass script
5 用筆 The use of the brush
6 用墨 The use of ink
7 行書 The running script
8 臨摹 Copying from sight
9 書丹 The essence of calligraphy
10 情性 Emotion and personal character
11 血脈 Blood vessels in calligraphy
12 燥潤 Dry and humid
13 勁媚 Strong and charming
14 方圓 Square and round
15 向背 Towards the back
16 位置 Positioning
17 疏密 Wide and dense
18 風神 Spirit and mind
19 遲速 Slow and quick
20 筆勢 The force of the brush
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.
Chang Ch‘ung-ho & Hans H. Frankel (1995). Two Treatises on Chinese Calligraphy [Shupu and Xu shupu] (New Haven and London: Yale University Press).
Jiaoyu da cidian bianzuan weiyuanhui 《教育大辭典》編纂委員會, ed. (1991). Jiaoyu da cidian 教育大辭典, part 8, Zhongguo gudai jiaoyu shi 中國古代教育史 (Shanghai: Shanghai jiaoyu chubanshe), Vol. 1, 262.
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Zhao Xiaolan 趙曉嵐 (2003). "Lun Jiang Kui Xu shupu de shufa meixue piping sixiang 論姜夔《續書譜》的書法美學批評思想", Tangdu xuekan 唐都學刊, 2003 (3): 46-50.
Zhu Youzhou 朱友舟 (2009). "Xu shupu fengshen lun yanjiu: Jian lun renpin yu shupin de guanxi 《續書譜》風神論研究——兼論人品與書品的關係", Yishu Zhongguo 藝術中國, 2009 (12): 105-106.