Meikō senpu 名公扇譜
FSC-GR-780.843
Commentary by Asano Shūgō
Posted December 3, 2017
Original unedited text in Japanese follows

Meikō senpu (Album of fans by celebrated artists)is a Japanese reprint of a Ming dynasty (1368–1644) publication with reproducible block carvings (mokoku 模刻) of fan paintings by various Chinese artists. The Ming printing was compiled by Zhang Youyun 張白雲 (Zhang Chenglong 張成龍) and is thought to have been published in the latter part of the Wanli era (1573–1619) by the Suzhou bookseller Qing Hui Zhai (清絵斎). Sometime in the early Tianqi era (1621–1626) the book was reprinted together in combination with seven other types of pictorial collections, and this work came to be known as the Primer on Eight Varieties of Painting 八種画譜 (Ch. Bazhong huapu; J. Hasshu gafu). When it arrived in Japan is unknown. Although it is believed that the first Japanese printing was released in 1630 (Kan’ei 7), the publication date of 1672 (Kanbun 12) as recorded in the colophon of the Pulverer copy is the earliest conclusively verifiable date for this title.

The cover is a pale teal color and retains the original title slip reading Meikō senpu. The first printed page has the bibliographic informationwith the description “Edited by Zhang Youyun, Meikō senpu, Qing Hui Zhai” (張白雲選名公扇譜清絵斎) followed by a four-page preface. There are sixty-three double-page openings of fan paintings and a colophon at the end of the book. Meikō senpu would have originally been bound using the “four-hole binding” (yotsume toji 四ツ目綴じ) technique; however, the string on the Pulverer copy has been cut and the pages rebound with glue in a format resembling “butterfly binding” (detchōsō 粘葉装). This would have facilitated the opening of the pages in order to view the fan pictures more fully. The Pulverer volume has the original hole marks on the cover and has a spine made of silk cloth. The preface, entitled “The Order of Selected Reproductions of Fan Paintings” (Senkoku senpujo, 選刻扇譜叙), was composed by “Yunjian Chen Jiru” (雲間陳継儒), or “Chen Jiru of the Yunjian school.”Following his name are two square seals: “Mei Gong” (眉公) and “Chen Jiru” (陳継儒). Chen Jiru (1558–1639) was a painter and calligrapher of the late Ming-dynasty Wu school (呉派) of literati (Ch: wenrenhua; J: nanga) painting. The owner seals include one from Dr. Pulverer and three square seals belonging to the prominent Japanese businessman and haiku poet Bunji 文二 (Jinushi Chōuemon 地主長右衛門; 1756–1825) from Tsuruoka (in modern-day Yamagata prefecture).

Ōtsuki Mikio explains in the 1978 facsimile reprint that some volumes of the 1672 Japanese printing lack the name “Kichizaemon” in the colophon. [1] Instead, they include the information of an “inaugural printing” (kaikan 開刊) under the name of Tōhon’ya Seibē, one of the publishers; these are actually the first copies produced. There are other versions released in 1710 (Hōei 7) that are missing publication details. These are testimony to how the production (and publishing) of the book evolved during the Edo period. As one volume of the Primer on Eight Varieties of Painting, this book was widely prized. It was initially employed as a copybook for literati painters and later for Japanese artists from other traditions.

書名　名公扇譜

執筆者浅野秀剛　

墨摺画譜。本書はもとは明版で本書はその和刻本。中国諸家の扇面画を模刻したもので、明版は、張白雲（成龍）選、万暦（1573–1619）後期に蘇州の書肆・清絵斎によって刊行されたとされる。その後、天啓（1621–1626）初年頃に他の七種の画譜と共に重印され、合せて俗に『八種画譜』と呼ばれるようになる。それが舶載されて日本伝わり、和刻本が作られた。和刻本の最初は寛永7年（1630）といわれるが、今確認できるものでは、本書の刊記にある寛文12年版が最も早い。浅葱色表紙、原題簽「名公扇譜」、扉半丁「張白雲選　名公扇譜　清絵斎」、序二丁、扇面画四十八丁、刊記半丁、全五十一丁。本書は元来四ツ目綴じであったものの糸を切り、扇面画を見開きで鑑賞できるように粘葉装めいた形にしたものなので、表紙に綴じ痕と包背の絹布が残る。序題は「選刻扇譜叙」、序末は「雲間陳継儒」、印「眉公」「陳継儒印」。陳継儒（1558–1639）は明末の呉派文人画を代表する画家。刊記は「寛文十二壬子年五月吉日」「京衣棚通二条上三丁目　唐本屋清兵衛」「江戸元呉服町一丁目　吉左衛問　唐本屋太兵衛」。所蔵印のうち、プルヴェラー氏のもの以外の三種の方印は、鶴岡（現山形県）の豪商で俳人の文二こと地主長右衛門（1756–1825）のもの。『美乃美』の影印本の大槻幹郎氏の解説によると、寛文十二年の和刻本の刊記として「唐本屋清兵衛」の下に「開刊」とあり「吉左衛問」の名がないものがあり、そちらが初印本という。他に数種の宝永七年版、無刊記版などがあり、江戸期を通じて制作刊行されたことが分かる。本書は、『八種画譜』中の一冊として、南画家をはじめとして日本の画家に絵手本として広く愛好され、活用された。

Selected readings:

Hasshu gafu『八種画譜』(Kyoto: Bijutsu Shuppan Binobi, 1978).

Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts(Machida Shiritsu Kokusai Hanga Bijutsukan 町田市立国際版画美術館), ed., Kinsei Nihon kaiga to gafu: etehon ten (zuroku) 『近世日本絵画と画譜・絵手本展図録』(Machida: Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 1990).

Wakokubon shogashūsei 7『和刻本書画集成7』(Tokyo: Kyūko Shoin, 1976).

Copies in other collections:

British Museum, London
Hōsa Library, Nagoya
National Archives of Japan, Tokyo
Nishio City Library, Aichi prefecture

Okayama University Library

Tokyo University of the Arts University Library

Yūtoku Inari Shrine, Kashima

[1] Hasshu gafu 1978.