Gu qiju ming 古器具名

Gu qiju ming 古器具名 is a book on antiques compiled during the Ming period by Hu Wenhuan 胡文煥 (c. 1600), who is also known as the author of the zither tablature Wenhuitang qinpu 文會堂琴譜.

The book consists of 2 juan and has an appendix called Guqi zongshuo 古器總說, which is a kind of overview of collectibles of ancient origin. It is a shortened quotation from the book Bogutu 博古圖. For each object – serving as a model for similar items – Hu presents descriptions and illustrations that are based on precursor books like Bogutu, Kaogutu 考古圖, and Shen Runqing's 沈潤卿 Xinshangbian 欣賞編. The illustrations of the latter were derived from the version of Zhu Derun's 朱德潤 Guyutu 古玉圖 in the series Shuofu 說郛 where the original preface is left out. Moreover, the Xinshangbian does not indicate the origin of its illustrations.

The quality and reliability of the images in Hu Wenhuan’s Gu qiju ming is therefore insufficient, all the more as Hu copied the illustrations of the Bogutu and the Kaogutu only in a very crude way and did not add explanations.

The book was therefore not included in the series Siku quanshu.