Peiwenzhai shuhua pu 佩文齋書畫譜, full title (Yuding) Peiwenzhai shuhua pu (御定)佩文齋書畫譜, short title Shuhuapu 書畫譜 "Notes on calligraphy and painting", is a kind of encyclopaedia on calligraphy and painting compiled on imperial order during the early Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by a team under the guidance of Sun Yueban 孫岳頒 (1639-1708), Song Junye 宋駿業 (1653-1713), Wang Yuanqi 王原祁 (1642-1715), Wu Jing 吳暻 (b. 1662) and Wang Quan 王銓. The name of the book is derived from the Kangxi Emperor's 康熙帝 (r. 1664-1722) study, the "Studio of Respect for Civilized Refinement" (Peiwenzhai 佩文齋).
The book with a size of 100 juan was finished in 1705. It begins with theoretical discourses on calligraphy and painting, then discusses – including biographical information – the artworks of emperors, commoners, and anonymous ones. The book goes on with annotations on artworks (ti-ba 題跋) written by emperors, princes, and commoners (mainly famous personalities), analyses the originality of artworks, and concludes with the issues connoisseurship and collection.
The book assembles a wide range of information on the two types of art, based on earlier writings and critique. It is based on literature available in the Imperial Household Library (neifu cangshu 內府藏書). The structure is similar to the corresponding chapters in the encyclopaedia Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成, but the content is deeper and more refined. With regards to structure, the sources quoted are arranged according to their bibliographial genre, beginning with the Classics, historiography, the Masters and philosophers, and belles-lettres, and then going on to unofficial history books (baiguan 稗官, yesheng 野乘), geographical books, and ending with Buddhist and Daoist writings. The whole encyclopaedia quotes from 1844 sources which are minutely indicated after each quotation. This scholarly procedure follows earlier methods as seen in Zhang Mingyu's 張鳴玉 (Zhang Minghuang 張鳴鳯, fl. 1589) Guigu 桂故 and Guisheng 桂勝 or Dong Sizhang's 董斯張 (1586-1628) Wuxing fenzhi 吳興奮志.
There are, however, several shortcomings in the Shuhuapu: The history of artworks is not provided, for instance, owners or collections where individual artworks were to be found. The book does not sufficiently tell apart originals from copies or forgeries. A third weakness concerns biographies of artists. While there might be several different versions of their lives, the Shuhuapu does not collate them or present solutions for contradictions.
A lithographic print was published in 1883 by the Tongwen Shuju 同文書局 in Shanghai, and a modern edition was launched in 1984 by the Zhonghua Shuju 中國書店. It is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and Chizaotang Siku quanshu huiyao 摛藻堂四庫全書薈要.
1.-10. | 論書 | Theory of calligraphy |
1.-2. 書體 | The "body" of calligraphies | |
3.-4. 書法 | The methods of calligraphy | |
5.-7. 書學 | The study of calligraphy | |
8.-10. 書品 | The rating of calligraphy | |
11.-18. | 論畫 | Theory of painting |
11.-12. 畫體 | The "body" of paintings | |
13.-14. 畫法 | The methods of painting | |
15.-16. 畫學 | The study of painting | |
17.-18. 畫品 | The rating of painting | |
19.-20. | 歷代帝王書 | Calligraphies of emperors and princes through the ages |
21. | 歷代帝王畫 | Paintings of emperors and princes through the ages |
22.-44. | 書家傳 | Biographies of calligraphers |
45.-58. | 畫家傳 | Biographies of painters |
59.-64. | 歷代無名氏書 | Anonymous calligraphies through the ages |
65.-66. | 歷代無名氏畫 | Anonymous paintings through the ages |
67. | 御製書畫跋 | Imperial annotations on calligraphies and paintings (of the Qing dynasty) |
68. | 歷代帝王書跋 | Annotations of emperors and princes on calligraphies through the ages |
69. | 歷代帝王畫跋 | Annotations of emperors and princes on paintings through the ages |
70.-80. | 歷代名人書跋 | Annotations of celebrities on calligraphies through the ages |
81.-87. | 歷代名人畫跋 | Annotations of celebrities on paintings through the ages |
88.-89. | 書辨證 | Assessment of calligraphies |
90. | 畫辨證 | Assessment of paintings |
91.-94. | 歷代鑒藏書 | Appraisal and collection of calligraphies through the ages |
95.-100. | 歷代鑒藏畫 | Appraisal and collection of paintings through the ages |