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#634

THE PEI WEN CHAI SHU HUA PU
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(The Imperial Encyclopedia of Manuscripts and Paintings)
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This celebrated encyclopaedia of manuscripts and paintings was compiled by a commission of eleven eminent scholars and painters appointed by the emperor Kang Hsi in 1705. It was published in one hundred fasciculi, bound in sixty-four volumes and prefixed by a sketch from the vermilion brush on the origin and development of the two allied arts.

The encyclopaedia derives its name from Pei Wen Chai, one of the Imperial palace libraries, famous for its vast and valuable collection of paintings and manuscripts. "Shu" means Books or Manuscripts, "Hua" means Paintings, and "Pu" means Encyclopaedia. The "Pei Wen Chai Shu Hua Pu" therefore means "the Encyclopaedia of Manuscripts and Paintings of the Pei Wen Pavillion".

For the compilation of this monumental work, 1,844 books were consulted, quotations from which were given at each instance with the title of the work and name of the author.

Books 13 to 16 deal with the styles, technique, schools of paintings and methods of study of Chinese pictorial art, while books 45 to 58 give the biographies 

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