Song Dynasty edition of the Canghua Pavilion Collection · Wang Xuanzhi

Author: Wang Xianzhi (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), or simply The Gallery Collection, was engraved in the "Secret Gallery" during the Cunhua era of the Northern Song Dynasty. In the third year of the Cunhua era (992 AD), Emperor Taizong of Song ordered Wang Zhuo, the court painter, to engrave the famous calligraphy and paintings from the Han to Tang dynasties held 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. Historical records of the Song Dynasty state: "Emperor Xiling, who pacified the four directions, after inheriting the legacy of the Han dynasty, paid attention to calligraphy and painting, using his authority to order Wang Zhuo to engrave the true works in the imperial collection and organize them into ten volumes."
Volumes nine and ten of The Cunhua Gallery Collection feature Wang Xianzhi's calligraphy, totaling sixty-three pieces. Due to the exquisite craftsmanship of the engravings, the collection provides a relatively authentic reflection of Wang Xianzhi's calligraphic style. The Cunhua Secret Gallery Collection (ten volumes) is a historical collection of calligraphy, The Gallery Collection. In the third year of the Cunhua era (992 AD), Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi of Song ordered the collection of historical calligraphy from the Secret Gallery and tasked Wang Zhuo with organizing and labeling them, engraving them on mulberry wood boards. When ministers were promoted to the two highest courts, they were granted a copy of the collection. The Gallery Collection is one of China's most renowned calligraphic collections. From the Han Emperor Zhangdi to the Tang Emperor Gaozong, it includes works by 103 famous calligraphers, totaling approximately 420 pieces. Through this collection, a vast number of ancient calligraphic works have been preserved, earning it the title of "the crown of calligraphic collections," with its legacy lasting for millennia.
Based on the examination of a surviving fragment of the Song-era printed Cunhua Gallery Collection, including 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 were masters such as Liu Zilang, Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun, Liu Gongquan, Li Yi, Lu Jianzhi, Bo Shaozhi, Zhang Xu, and Huai Su. However, Yan Zhenqing was the only major calligrapher excluded from the collection. Further investigation of the Cunhua Gallery Collection from the Shu Mansion revealed that this collection was a Ming Dynasty engraving based on a Song-era printing gifted to Zhu Qian, the Shu Prince, by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty. This Ming-era engraving was a reduced-size print (published by Shanghai Bookstore in 1990). In 1991, Beijing Ancient Books published a photolithographic edition of The Cunhua Gallery Collection, using a Qing Dynasty edition from the reign of Emperor Qianlong as the base. In 1988, the China Bookstore published a photolithographic edition of the Song-era printed Cunhua Gallery Collection. All three editions of The Gallery Collection exclude Yan Zhenqing's calligraphic works. The Commercial Press published The Cunhua Gallery Collection with Annotations (two volumes) in 1985, which also lacks annotations of Yan Zhenqing's works. This confirms beyond doubt that The Gallery Collection deliberately excluded Yan Zhenqing.