A Study on the Bibliographical Description of the Zhizhai-Shulu-Jieti

Unearthing Wu Daozi (c. 686 to c. 760): The Concept of Authorship in Tang Painting

“…A major art-historical event took place in 847, when Zhang Yanyuan completed A Record of Famous Paintings of Successive Dynasties (Lidai minghua ji, hereafter Famous Paintings) in the Tang capital Chang'an. 1 In this foundational text, which the twentiethcentury historiographer Yu Shaosong (1883Shaosong ( -1949 deemed 'the progenitor of the history of [Chinese] painting as well as painting history par excellence', 2 Zhang conceives the history of Chinese painting as a three-stage evolution leading up to the period from the late sixth to mid-eighth century, in which painting finally reached the level of 'a blaze of splendour, with completeness as its goal'. 3 Encompassing mainly the first 150 years of the Tang dynasty (618-907), this triumphant epoch was abruptly brought to an end by the An Lushan Rebellion, which lasted from 755 to 763; Emperor Wuzong's persecution of Buddhism (842-845) further destroyed the numerous temples and their magnificent murals in this then the most populous city on earth.…”