Shipin 石品

Shipin 石品 is a book on extraordinary stones written during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Yu Jun 郁浚 (郁濬, fl. 1617), courtesy name Kaizhi 開之, from Songjiang 松江 close to modern Shanghai.

The book of 2 juan length was finished in 1617. It is a history of stone collection through the ages, but it is compiled without a clear thread or organisation. The author quotes extensively from encyclopaedias and other sources, including statements of contemporaries like Tu Long 屠隆 (1543-1605) or Chen Jiru 陳繼儒 (1558-1639). The book explains more than 500 types of stones and explains their use as ink-stones (yanshi 硯石), screens (shiping 石屏), rocks (yanshi 巖石), minerals, fossils, etc. The descriptions of the objects informs about designations, the place of origin, the number of varieties, form, colour, hardness, sound when strucked, use and stories around the pieces.

The Shipin is similar to Du Wan's 杜綰 Yunlin shipu 雲林石譜 from the Song period 宋 (960-1279), and includes even more types and forms, but the descriptions are less scholarly.

The text is included in the series Siku cunmu congshu 四庫存目叢書.