Huazhuan Jieziyuan Sold at Auction Prices

ieziyuan Huazhuan (????? "Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden"), sometimes known as Jieziyuan Huapu (?????), is a manual of Chinese painting compiled during the early-Qing Dynasty. Many renowned later Chinese painters, like Qi Baishi, began their drawing lessons with the manual.

The work was commissioned by Shen Xinyou (???), son-in-law of the famous playwright Li Yu, whose mansion in Lanxi, Zhejiang province where, in the late 1650s, he funded the publisher Jieziyuan, or Mustard Seed Garden. Shen possessed the teaching materials of Li Liufang (???), a painter of the late-Ming Dynasty, and commissioned Wáng Gài (??), Wáng Shi (??), Wáng Niè (??) and Zhu Sheng (??) to edit and expand those materials with the aim of producing a manual for landscape painting. The result was the first part of Jieziyuan Huazhuan, which, published in 1679 in five colours, comprises five juan (?) or fascicles. Li Yu, as the publisher, wrote a preface for this part. The first fascicle deals with the general principles of landscape painting, the second the painting of trees, the third that of hills and stones, the fourth that of people and houses, and the fifth comprises the selected works of great landscape painters. The volume also entered Edo period Japan, where woodblock printed copies became relatively easily accessible in all the major cities; the Mustard Seed Garden Manual came to be used by a great many Japanese artists and was a major element in the training of artists and the development of Edo period painting. Two more parts, which deal with the painting of flora and fauna, were produced by Wang and his two brothers. Shen promised a fourth part, but never published it. A fourth part, which deals with portraits, was produced by some quick profit-seeking publisher, though. Chao Xun (??) (1852-1917), dissatisfied with the fake, produced his own sequel, as well as carefully reproduced the first three volumes. Reprints of the first three volumes are usually based on Chao's reproduction. Subsequent sections break down the elements of a landscape painting so that the figures, boats, trees and rocks can be separately copied and mastered before the apprentice painter attempts his own compositions from these elements. Landscape compositions, which are not included in the Ten Bamboo Studio Albums, also appear. A variety of techniques is shown from soft lines and colors to almost monochrome designs. Most compositions are made with inclusion of calligraphy and seals, making them appear like traditional scholarly paintings. The original edition was a color printed woodblock book while later editions were in black and white only.
Sources: Chinese Illustration (in the collection of the British Museum) by Dr. Francis Wood