Guochao yuanhua lu 國朝院畫錄

Guochao yuanhua lu 國朝院畫錄 "Contemporary court painting" is a book on painting written during the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Hu Jing 胡敬 (1769-1845), courtesy name Yizhuang 以莊, style Shunong 書農, from Renhe 仁和 near Hangzhou, Zhejiang. He participated in the compilation of the Midian zhulin 秘殿珠林 and the Shiqu baoji 石渠寶笈. Through this work, he gained access to the imperial collection of paintings. Motivated by this experience, he began examining the works of Qing court painters preserved in the Shiqu baoji and researching their biographies, which ultimately led to the compilation of this book. His book Guochao yuanhua lu is dated 1816.

It has a length of 2 juan and is divided into three parts. Part 1 arranges painters chronologically, covering 53 court artisan painters from the early and high Qing periods. Each artist is introduced with a brief biography, followed by a listing of their works included in the first, second, and third compilations of the Shiqu baoji. For each artwork, details are recorded such as the painting's title, mounting style, subject matter, inscriptions, colophons, and even imperial inscriptions by the emperors themselves. Part 2 covers collaborative paintings by multiple artists as well as works by anonymous painters, involving 28 artists in total. Most works here are listed only by their titles. Part 3 includes painters whose works are not recorded in the Shiqu baoji but whose surnames appear scattered across various official records and genealogies. For these, only their surnames and places of origin are listed at the end of the volume.

Although the book is a compilation, its selections are made with great care and its organizational structure is meticulous. It serves as a valuable reference for the study of historical imperial painting academies and Qing-period court painting.