Zhonglu huapin 中麓畫品

Zhonglu huapin 中麓畫品 "Classification of paintings by [the master of] Middle Park Slope" is a book on painting written during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Li Kaixian 李開先 (1502-1568), courtesy name Bohua 伯華, style Zhonglu 中麓, from Zhangqiu 章丘, Shandong. His highest office was Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices (taichangsi shaoqing 太常侍少卿), but he resigned from public service after having submitted a critique on court politics. Li was one of the "eight masters" of the Jiajing reign-period (1522-1566; Jiajing ba caizi 嘉靖八才子), the others being Wang Shenzhong 王慎中 (1509-1559), Tang Shunzhi 唐順之 (1507-1560), Chen Shu 陳束 (1508-1540), Zhao Shichun 趙時春 (1509-1567), Xiong Guo 熊過 (b. 1506), Ren Han 任瀚 (1502-1592), and Lü Gao 呂高 (1505-1557). Li Kaixian was also known for his theatre plays Baojianji 寶劍記 and Xuanlin wumeng 園林午夢. His collected writings are called Xianju ji 閑居集.

His brief book Zhonglu huapin is a classification of paintings that imitates the early book of Xie He 謝赫 (459?-532?), Gu huapin lu 古畫品錄, and Yao Zui 姚最 (536-602), Xu huapin 續畫品, by giving painters "grades" (pin 品). Li makes use of 5 grades to evaluate paintings of the Ming period. Wang Shizhen 王士禎 (1526-1590) remarked that Li Kaixian's classification of contemporary painters differed from that of other critics, for instance, by praising the skills of Dai Jin 戴進 (1388-1462), Wu Wei 吳偉 (1459-1508), Tao Cheng 陶成 (fl. 1471) and Du Jin 杜堇 (late 15th cent.) - all members of the so-called Zhejiang School (Zhepai 浙派), but rating the artworks of Jiangsu painters (Wupai 吳派), like Shen Zhou 沈周 (1427-1509) or Tang Yin 唐寅 (1470-1524) as mere mediocre. The first chapter of the book treats individual painters, using metaphorical language to comment on the artistic qualities of them. The second chapter summarises the strengths of artists as based on the "six essentials" (liuyao 六要), and their weaknesses by showing traits of the "four shortcomings" (sibing 四病). The "six essentials" are spirit in the use of the brush (shen bifa 神筆法), clarity (qing bifa 清筆法), energy (laojing bifa 老勁筆法), liveliness (huo bifa 活筆法), and lubricious brushwork (run bifa 潤筆法). The "four diseases" are: stiffness (jiang 僵), dryness (ku 枯), blurriness (zhuo 濁), and weakness (ruo 弱).

The book is found in the series Hanhai 函海, Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編 and Meishu congshu 美術叢書.