The Painting Master’s Shame: Liang Shicheng and the Xuanhe Catalogue of Paintings

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Amy McNair

The Painting Master’s Shame

Liang Shicheng and the Xuanhe Catalogue of Paintings

Amy McNair

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English

Harvard University Press
01 December 2023

Theory of art; Oriental art; Asian history

Series: Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series

"Overturning the long-held assumption that the Xuanhe Catalogue of Paintings was the work of the Northern Song emperor Huizong (r. 1100–1126), Amy McNair argues that it was compiled instead under the direction of Liang Shicheng. Liang, a high-ranking eunuch official who sought to raise his social status from that of despised menial to educated elite, had privileged access to the emperor and palace. McNair's study, based on her translation and extensive analysis of the text of the Xuanhe Catalogue of Paintings, offers a definitive argument for the authorship of this major landmark in Chinese painting criticism and clarifies why and how it was compiled.

The Painting Master's Shame describes the remarkable circumstances of the period around 1120, when the catalogue was written. The political struggles over the New Policies, the promotion of the ""scholar amateur"" ideal in painting criticism and practice, and the rise of eunuch court officials as a powerful class converged to allow those officials the unprecedented opportunity to enhance their prestige through scholarly activities and politics. McNair analyzes the catalogue's central polemical narrative-the humiliation of the high-ranking minister mistakenly called by the lowly title ""Painting Master""-as the key to understanding Liang Shicheng's methods and motives."

By: Amy McNair
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9780674293748
ISBN 10: 0674293746
Series: Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series
Pages: 268
Publication Date: 01 December 2023
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Amy McNair is Professor of East Asian Studies and the History of Art at the University of Kansas.

Reviews for The Painting Master’s Shame: Liang Shicheng and the Xuanhe Catalogue of Paintings

McNair presents a convincing new interpretation of a well-known, important text. In the process, she offers an intimate sense of the ambitions and frustrations of powerful eunuch officials at the court of Emperor Huizong…An important contribution to political history and the history of art during the Northern Song. -- Christian de Pee * Journal of Chinese History *