DOI Kapitel:
Essays
DOI Kapitel:Ning, Yao: Propagating the Confucian Virtues: Chinese Artists in Serialized Printed Portrait Books
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70035#0033
Yao Ning
Fig. 7: Image of An Min woodblock print,
1690, in: Wushuang pu (Catalogue of
the Unparalleled), Jin Guliang Bl
Fig. 8: Image of the stele of An Min, wood-
block print, 1690, in: Wushuang pu
(Catalogue of the Unparalleled), Jin Guliang
According to the inscriptions, An Min was the stone engraver of the stele. One day
he noticed that Sima Guang's (1019-1086) name was on the list engraved on
the stele. Sima Guang was a famous historian and high-ranking official at the time. For
An Min, Sima Guang was a gentleman famous for his honesty. An Min therefore asked
the person in charge not to leave his name as the engraver on the stele for fear of bad
reputation for later generations.42 The book Wushuang pu contains forty woodblock
prints of heroes, poets, filial women, a gigolo, and a eunuch ranging from the third
century BCE to the thirteenth century CE. Jin Guliang not only wrote the poems but
also painted the figures himself. In the preface Tao Shiyu 5 (jinshi of the year
1676) wrote that Jin Guliang was abandoned even though he was talented (^ ^),
and that Jin compiled this book to "vent the frustrations of those who had been treated
unfairly for hundreds and thousands of years.”43 There are no historical sources
about the stele engraver An Min, whose name literally means to gratify the people.
This suggests that it may be a name created by Jin Guliang. The anecdote also indi-
cates that stone carvers in ancient times often were people who were either com-
pletely illiterate or not well trained in reading. In An Min's case he only realized Sima
26
Fig. 7: Image of An Min woodblock print,
1690, in: Wushuang pu (Catalogue of
the Unparalleled), Jin Guliang Bl
Fig. 8: Image of the stele of An Min, wood-
block print, 1690, in: Wushuang pu
(Catalogue of the Unparalleled), Jin Guliang
According to the inscriptions, An Min was the stone engraver of the stele. One day
he noticed that Sima Guang's (1019-1086) name was on the list engraved on
the stele. Sima Guang was a famous historian and high-ranking official at the time. For
An Min, Sima Guang was a gentleman famous for his honesty. An Min therefore asked
the person in charge not to leave his name as the engraver on the stele for fear of bad
reputation for later generations.42 The book Wushuang pu contains forty woodblock
prints of heroes, poets, filial women, a gigolo, and a eunuch ranging from the third
century BCE to the thirteenth century CE. Jin Guliang not only wrote the poems but
also painted the figures himself. In the preface Tao Shiyu 5 (jinshi of the year
1676) wrote that Jin Guliang was abandoned even though he was talented (^ ^),
and that Jin compiled this book to "vent the frustrations of those who had been treated
unfairly for hundreds and thousands of years.”43 There are no historical sources
about the stele engraver An Min, whose name literally means to gratify the people.
This suggests that it may be a name created by Jin Guliang. The anecdote also indi-
cates that stone carvers in ancient times often were people who were either com-
pletely illiterate or not well trained in reading. In An Min's case he only realized Sima
26