Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual
- Published: 1679 (first volume, in China); 1746 (first Japanese edition)
- Other Names: 芥子園画譜 (kaishien gafu)
- Chinese/Japanese: 芥子園画伝 (Jiè zǐ yuán huà zhuàn / kaishien gaden)
The Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual was a painting manual, in four volumes, originally published in Qing Dynasty China, and profoundly influential in both China and Japan.
The manual was put together by brothers Wang Gai, Wang Shi, and Wang Nie, and named after the Nanjing garden possessed by their patron, Li Yu. The images were based on paintings by Li's son-in-law, the late Ming Dynasty painter Li Liufang, and the first volume was completed in 1679.
The book begins with a brief summary of the history of Chinese landscape painting, and an explanation of the elements of painting, before moving into examples of the various depictions of trees, rocks & mountains, and human figures, ending with reproductions of famous paintings since the Song Dynasty.
The manual was first published in Japan in 1746, and quickly became extremely influential.
References
- "Kaishien gaden." Sekai daihyakka jiten 世界大百科事典. Hitachi Solutions, 2012.