Dream Rain Studio Reading Notes

Author: Huang Chang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Dream Rain Studio Reading Notes is the third reading notes book by the contemporary famous essayist Huang Chang. This A Corner of Qing Dynasty Woodblock Prints was published by Qi Lu Book Society in 1992, and the second Reading Notes from Laiyan Pavilion (volumes 1 and 2) was published by Liaoning Education Press in 2001. This book is a collection of Huang Chang's reading notes written after 2001. At the age of eighty-six, Huang Chang holds this book in high regard, as it may be the last book of this kind he will write. In modern book talk writing, Huang Chang is one of the heavyweight figures still active in this field after Zheng Zhenduo and Tang Tao. The book talk he wrote, especially those on the origin of woodblock prints, has always been valued by the reading community. The study of Qing Dynasty woodblock prints is relatively unpopular in Chinese textual studies, with few scholars taking an interest. In the past, scholars who studied textual variations generally focused on the Song and Yuan dynasties, and Qing Dynasty woodblock prints were often overlooked by book collectors and rarely included in catalogues. It wasn’t until Zhang Zhidong wrote A Guide to Catalogues that Qing Dynasty woodblock prints began to receive attention. In the early 1960s, the Beijing Library compiled Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Woodblock Prints, breaking the norm to include images of Qing Dynasty woodblock prints, but only fifty were included. Although later supplemented, it still cannot fully reflect the overall picture of Qing Dynasty woodblock printing. Huang Chang believes: “In fact, the role of Qing Dynasty woodblock prints in China’s history of woodblock printing cannot be ignored. Over three hundred years of the Qing Dynasty, how many books were printed remains uncertain.” The eighty-plus reading notes included in this book mainly discuss various representative woodblock prints of the Qing Dynasty, as well as their decorative styles, which are highly artistic. A good book should not only have excellent content but also achieve a high level in layout, printing, paper quality, and binding. Huang Chang’s familiarity with Qing Dynasty woodblock printing is as detailed as knowing one’s own home. He says, Qing Dynasty woodblock printing can be divided into two main categories: calligraphic woodblock prints and regular script woodblock prints, each varying in quality and style. The calligraphic woodblock prints, also known as soft-script fine prints, hold an important place in the history of Qing Dynasty woodblock printing. Their tradition can be traced back to the Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli eras, marking another peak in the tradition of calligraphic woodblock printing since the Song Dynasty, following the rise of Zhao-style script. It shifted from the roughness of the Ming Dynasty to extraordinary refinement. The private woodblock prints of the Qing Dynasty were vibrant and produced many fine works. Most of the Qing Dynasty woodblock prints mentioned in this book are owned by the author himself, adding a deep emotional resonance to the text. The appendix Catalogue of Tianyi Pavilion’s Looted Books in this book is highly historical and holds great significance in the study of Chinese woodblock prints.