Zhenguan gongsi huashi 貞觀公私畫史

Zhenguan gongsi huashi 貞觀公私畫史, also called Zhenguan gongsi hualu 貞觀公私畫錄, or Gongsi hualu 公私畫錄 for short, is a history of painting written during the early Tang period 唐 (618-907) by Pei Xiaoxuan 裴孝源 (fl. 639). He held the offices of drafter in the Imperial Secretariat (zhongshu sheren 中書舍人), and then that of ministerial director in the Ministry of Personnel (libu yuanwailang 吏部員外郎). Pei's book Huapinlu 畫品錄 on the ranking of quality in painting is lost.

In the preface of his short book, Pei writes that Li Yuanchang 李元昌 (619-643), the Prince of Han 漢, who was very fond of painting, asked him to write a book about the history of this art, and also to rate famous paintings and the skills of famous artists. The author explains that the book shall refer to the paintings of Cao Mao 曹髦 (r. 254-260 CE) and through the centuries to those stored in the imperial library (mifu 秘府) and of various monasteries of the then-present time. He points at no less than 298 individual painting scrolls and 47 mural paintings. Yet in fact, the book just includes objects that had once been part of the palace collection of the Sui dynasty 隋 (581-618), and the greatest part of scrolls and mural paintings listed was not created during the Tang era, but somewhat earlier. The earliest painter mentioned was Lu Tanwei 陸探微 (d. 485) from the Liu-Song dynasty 劉宋 (420-479). The number of scrolls dealt with in the book is also somewhat lower (289) than announced in the preface. Similar mistakes in addition happen throughout the book.

The arrangement of the text, however, is very clear and consistent. The author always mentions the title of a book first, and then the name of the artist. Artworks are arranged according to quality. Whenever they had been part of the art collection of the Liang dynasty 梁 (502-557), the title of the catalogue Taiqing mu 太清目 (now lost) is given.

The Gongsi hualu was called the "ancestor of books for connoisseurs and collectors" (jiancangjia zhi zuben 鑒藏家之祖本). The text is included in the series Wangshi shuhua yuan 王氏書畫苑, Tang-Song congshu 唐宋叢書, Xu baichuan xuehai 續百川學海, Shuofu 說郛, Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Meishu congshu 美術叢書 and Huapin congshu 畫品叢書.