Song dynasty edition of the Huazhuan Ge Tie. One of them. Wang Xizhi.

Author: Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-10-01
Features: The Cunhua Gallery Collection, also known as The Cunhua Secret Gallery Collection or The Official Collection, is abbreviated as The Gallery Collection. It was carved in the "Secret Gallery" during the Cunhua period of the Northern Song Dynasty. In the third year of the Cunhua era (992 AD), Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty ordered Wang Zhuo, the court painter, to engrave the famous calligraphy collections from the Han to the Tang dynasties in the imperial collection into The Cunhua Secret Gallery Collection in ten volumes. After the collection was completed, the imperial collection used Chengxin Hall paper and Li Tinggui ink to print it. Song Dynasty records state: "Emperor Xiling, who pacified the four directions, carried the chariot of the Han dynasty, and paid attention to calligraphy, used his calculations to draw from the imperial collection's later true calligraphy, ordered Wang Zhuo, the court painter, to record them in the palace, and organize them into ten volumes." The Cunhua Gallery Collection volumes nine and ten feature Wang Xianzhi's calligraphy, totaling sixty-three pieces in these two volumes. Due to the exquisite craftsmanship of the carvings in The Gallery Collection, it more accurately reflects the calligraphic style of Wang Xianzhi. The Cunhua Secret Gallery Collection (ten volumes) is a historical collection of calligraphy, abbreviated as The Gallery Collection. In the third year of the Cunhua era (992 AD), Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi of the Song Dynasty ordered the historical calligraphy collections from the Secret Gallery to be compiled by Wang Zhuo, with calligraphy marked and engraved on mulberry wood boards. When ministers were promoted to the two courts, one copy was presented to them. The Gallery Collection is one of China's most famous calligraphy collections. From Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, including famous ministers such as the "Two Wangs" and Tang and Liu, there are 103 calligraphers and approximately 420 works. Since then, a large number of ancient calligraphic works have been preserved through it, earning it the title of the crown of calligraphy collections, and its contribution has lasted for a thousand years. Based on the examination of the surviving fragments of the Song Dynasty edition of The Cunhua Gallery Collection, The Collection of Famous Ministers of the Past (Volume 4) and The Collection of Ancient Calligraphy of Various Masters (Volume 5), the author found that the Tang Dynasty calligraphers included in The Gallery Collection include masters such as Zhu Suiliang, Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun, Liu Gongquan, Li Yi, Lu Jianzhi, Bo Shaozhi, Zhang Xu, and Huai Su, but Yan Zhenqing was not included. Further examination of the Cunhua Gallery Collection from the Shu Mansion shows that this collection was a copy of the Song Dynasty edition presented to Zhu Qianzhu, the Shu Prince, by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty when he was enfeoffed in Lanzhou. This Ming Dynasty copy, which was reduced in size and printed (published by Shanghai Bookstore in 1990), was reprinted in 1991 by Beijing Ancient Books as a photolithographic edition, using the Qing Dynasty's Shantuo edition as the base. In 1988, the China Bookstore published a photolithographic edition of the Song Dynasty edition of The Cunhua Gallery Collection. All three editions of The Gallery Collection do not include Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy. The Zhonghua Book Company published The Explanation of The Cunhua Gallery Collection (two volumes) in 1985, which also does not include an explanation of Yan Zhenqing's works. This confirms that The Gallery Collection definitely excluded Yan Zhenqing.