Books on Art (yishu lei 藝術類)

Books on Art (yishu lei 藝術類) is a subcategory in traditional Chinese bibliographies and part of the category of Masters and Philosophers (zibu 子部). The section in the reprint series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 is divided into four parts: Painting and calligraphy (shuhua 書畫, 71 books), musical notes and books to the zither (qinpu 琴譜, 4 books), seal carving (zhuanke 篆刻, 2 books), and miscellaneous arts (zaji 雜技, 4 books), including books on Chinese chess. The part on the zither has been separated from other books on music, which are integrated in the Classics section. The books on seal carving and seal script characters have also relationship to the books on glyphology (zizhu 字書) belonging to the "minor teachings" (xiaoxue 小學) in the Classics category. The most important books in this section are Gu huapin lu 古畫品錄, Qinshi 琴史 and Qijing 棋經.

The oldest books on martial arts (wushu 武術) can be found in the bibliographical chapter Yiwen zhi 藝文志 in the official dynastic history Hanshu 漢書. It lists 13 texts of "military skills" (bing qiqiao 兵技巧), among them six chapters of fist-fighting (Shoubo 手搏), 36 chapters of sword fighting (Jiandao 劍道), and 4 chapters of methods using polearms (Pujuzi gefa 蒲苴子戈法). Of a Sui-period 隋 (581-618) book on polearms used by cavalry, Mashuopu 馬槊譜, the preface survives. The oldest fully surviving text on martial arts is Jiaoliji 角力記 from the 10th century.

Various statements on martial arts are mentioned in the military treatises Wujing zongyao 武經總要 from the Song period 宋 (960-1279), and Wubian 武編, Jiangnan jinglüe 江南經略, Zhenji 陣紀 (ch. Jiyong 技用), Wubeizhi 武備志 and Wubei xinshu 武備新書 from the Ming period 明 (1368-1644), and particularly in Qi Jiguang's 戚繼光 (1528-1588) famous book Jixiao xinshu 紀效新書 (see Quanjing jeyao pian 拳經捷要篇). In other cases, remarks on martial arts can be found in the literary writings of individual persons, like Tang Shunzhi's 唐順之 (1507-1560) Tang Jingchuan wenji 唐荊川文集, or Yu Daqiu’s 俞大猷 (1503-1579) Zhengqitang ji 正氣堂集, and his biji-style essay collection Gengyu shengji 耕余剩技 (ch. Shaolin gunfa chanzong 少林棍法闡宗, Dandao fa xuan 單刀法選, Changqiang fa xuan 長槍法選 and Jue zhang xin fa 蹶張心法, i.e., Guoshu si shu 國術四書). Information on Shaolin-style martial arts or fighting with polearms can be found in Xie Zhaozhe’s 謝肇浙 (1567-1624) Wuzazu 五雜俎, Wang Qi’s 王圻 (jinshi degree 1565) encyclopaedias Xu wenxian tongkao 續文獻通考 (ch. Zonglun junqi 總論軍器) and his illustrated Sancai tuhui 三才圖會 (ch. Shefa tuqi 射法圖器, Majian tu 馬箭圖, Quanfa tu 拳法圖, Qiangfa tu 槍法圖, Gunfa tu 棍法圖 and Pianpaishi tu 旁牌勢圖), and in Zhu Guozhen's 朱國禎 (1557-1632) Yongzhang xiaopin 涌幢小品 (ch. 12). Xu Ke's 徐珂 (1869-1928) encyclopaedia Qingbai leichao 清稗類抄 from the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) also contains information on martial arts (part Jiyong 技勇).

From the Qing period on, specialized books on martial arts were published. Such are Wu Shu's 吳殳 (1611-1695) Shoubilu 手臂錄, which focuses on fighting with sticks or swords, the book Wanbao quanshu 萬寶全書 by a person called Yanshui Shanren 煙水山人 which covers a wide range of physical activities, arts, and methods of "nourishing life" (yangsheng 養生), including Quanbang tiejie fa 拳棒跌解法, and Yaojia linwei jiefa 要家臨危解法. A book specifically dedicated to the use of polearms is the anonymous (perhaps written by Wang Zongyue 王宗岳, fl. 1790) Yinfu qiangpu 陰符槍譜. The teachings of the Buddhist monk Xuanji 玄機 are assembled in the book Quanjing 拳經 by Chen Songquan 陳松泉 and Zhang Ming'e 張鳴鶚 (jinshi degree 1589), with a supplement by Zhang Kongzhao 張孔昭 and a further extension by Cao Huandou 曹煥斗, and known in Republican publications as Xuanji mishou xuedao quanjue 玄機秘授穴道拳訣 or Quanjing quanfa beiyao 拳經拳法備要.

The anonymous book (Wang Zongyue 王宗岳?) Taijiquan jing 太極拳經, also called Taijiquan pu 太極拳譜, is the oldest book using the term Taijiquan. Huang Baijia 黃百家 (1643-1709), a disciple of master Wang Zhengnan 王征南 (1617-1669), produced the book Neijia quanfa 內家拳法, transmitting a special type of Taijiquan from the province of Zhejiang. Fighting with sticks and polearms is the theme of Changshi wuji shu 萇氏武技書 by Chang Naizhou 萇乃周 (1724-1783). The series Zhaodai congshu 昭代叢書 includes a collection describing the use of a wide range of different polearms, Bingzhangji 兵仗記 written by Wang Zhuo 王晫 (1636-1705). Chen Xin 陳鑫 (1849-1929) wrote the illustrated book Chenshi taijiquan tushuo 陳氏太極拳圖說, as well as the texts Taijiquan yinmeng rulu 太極拳引蒙入路, and Sansanquan pu 三三拳譜. The last of the great traditional books on martial arts, and the first one applying scholarly methods, is Li Xunyi's 李存義 (1846-1921) Quanshu jiaofan 拳術教范, in which he critically investigates instructional materials on wushu, like Xuqingquan pu 五行拳譜 or Lianhengquan pu 連環拳譜.