Xuanhe Painting Catalog

Volume I

From the Jin and Song dynasties up to our current dynasty, there have been forty-nine people renowned for Daoist and Buddhist subjects. From the Jin and Song, there are masters like Gu [Kaizhi] and Lu [Tanwei]. From the Sui, there are figures like Zhang [Sengyao] and Zhan [Ziqian]; these were individuals who stood out among their contemporaries. As for the Tang dynasty, Wu Daoyuan Better known as Wu Daozi was considered peerless, as if no one before him had existed. During the Five Dynasties period, painters like Cao Zhongyuan made rapid progress, surpassing their predecessors. In our own dynasty, the skill of painting has surpassed that of the Jin and Song periods. Regarding the figures, the Daoist Li Derou painted deities by grasping their vital spirit and skeletal structure, and his excellence in coloring made him renowned for a time. Masters like Sun Zhiwei were all of this same caliber. This is not to say that the others were not also skilled, but a search through the catalogs will reveal the details. As for figures like Zhao Yi and Gao Wenjin, they were also quite famous for their Daoist and Buddhist works; however, Yi...