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Xiushilu 髹飾錄 "On lacquer decoration" is the only surviving traditional Chinese book on the art of lacquerwork. Zhu Zundu's 朱遵度 Qijing 漆經 "The book of lacquer" from the Five Dynasties period is lost. The Xiushilu was compiled by the late Ming-period scholar and lacquering master Huang Cheng 黃成, courtesy name Huang Dacheng 黃大成. He hailed from Xin'an 新安 (modern Shexian 歙縣, Anhui).
His book is a detailed description of the art of producing lacquer, various techniques to decorate vessels and objects with a lacquer coat, and the cosmological function of lacquer. He mentions and quotes from earlier books on this kind of crafts. The Xiushilu was first published in 1625 and was soon after revised and commented by Yang Ming 楊明, courtesy name Yang Qingzhong 楊清仲, from Xitang 西塘 near Jiaxing 嘉興, Zhejiang. Yang wrote a preface and added an extensive commentary that elucidated the many termini technici to the common reader.
The book has only survived in a Japanese manuscript copy in possession of Kimura Kōkyū 木村孔恭 (1736–1802; studio name Kenkadō 蒹葭堂) that was republished by Zhu Qiqian 朱啟鈐 in 1927 in type-setting format. It has also been published in the series Tuobachan congke 托跋廛叢刻 and Meishu congshu 美術叢書.
The Xiushilu is divided into two parts called the Celestial collection (Qianji 乾集) and the Terrestrial collection (Kunji 坤集). The whole book consists of 18 chapters with 186 paragraphs. The first part mainly describes the production and processing of the raw material, as well as tools and implements. It also treats the many problems that can occur with lacquered objects and how to discern antiques and forgeries or to imitate and antique appearance. The second part is dedicated to lacquering techniques, like carved red lacquer, lacquer putty, embossed coloured lacquer, inlay (mainly mother-of-pearl), gold foil, or engraving. The book does not only describe contemporary techniques, but also those of older ages, like the Tang 唐 (618-907) and Song 宋 (960-1279) periods, from which only a very small number of objects have survived until today. Techniques of lacquering have been neglected in China since the 1800s, and practical knowledge about these has become lost. The Xiushilu is, therefore, an extremely important source for the art of lacquering.
| 雨灌––即髤刷，有大小數等，及蟹足、疏鬣、馬尾、猪鬃，又有灰刷、染刷。 | Like rain being poured, namely when applying lacquer with brushes and brooms, of which there are many different sizes. [There are the types] "Crab feet", "Wide-bristled ones", those made from horse tails or pig bristles, and there are also brushes for applying lacquer putty and coloured lacquer. |
| 沛然不偏，絶塵膏澤。 | [The substance] must be applied generously, never unevenly, and dust must be kept away to create a flawlessly glossy surface. |
| （以漆喻水，故蘸刷拂器，比雨{桼+包}面無纇，如雨下塵埃不起為佳，又漆偏則作病，故曰不偏。） | (Lacquer is compared to water, specifically because one dips the brush [into the lacquer liquid] and applies it to the object. The comparison with rain also refers to the fact that the surface of the border lacquer must not show any irregularities, just as after rainfall a beautiful [surface] lies there without any dirt emerging. Problems will arise if [the varnish] is not applied evenly, which is why it is said: "one must never apply unevenly".) |
| 雪下––即筒羅。 | Like snow, it falls down, namely [from the] tubes and sieves. |
| 片片霏霏，疏疏密密。 | Grain by grain, the pellets fall, sometimes scattered, sometimes dense. |
| （筒有大小，羅有疏密，皆隨麩片之細麤，器面之狹闊而用之，其狀如雪之下，而布於地也。） | （Tubes have different diameters, and sieves have varying fineness, and they are used depending on the thickness of the flakes and the size of the object. [The scattering material] comes out of them like snow and covers the surface [of the object].） |
| 雺籠––即粉筆并粉盞。 | Like in fog, everything is wrapped in a basket, like with the powder brushes and powder boxes. |
| 陽起陰起，百狀朦朧。 | Yang rises, and Yin rises, in a hundred combinations and entangled. |
| （雺起於朝，起於暮，朱髤黑髤即陰陽之色，而器上之粉道百般，文圖輕疏，而如山水草木，被籠於雺中而朦朧也。） | The mist rises in the morning and rises in the evening, just as [the powder decorations] are applied on red lacquer or black lacquer. These are the colors of Yin (black) and Yang (red). And the hundred ways and types of powder on the object—the patterns and forms, so light and widely scattered—give the impression as if mountains and rivers, bushes and trees were shrouded in mist. |
The most important annotated, illustrated and translated modern editions of the Xiushilu are Wang Shixiang's 王世襄 Xiushilu jieshuo 髹飾錄解說 from 1983, and the Xiushilu tushuo 髹飾錄圖說 by Chang Bei 長北 (i.e., Zhang Yan 張燕) from 2007.