The Manual of Calligraphy by Sun Guoting of the Tang. A Comprehensive Study on the Manuscript and its Author

The Manual of Calligraphy (Shu pu 書譜) by Sun Guoting 孫過庭 (ca. 647-ca. 690) is one of the great masterpieces of Chinese calligraphy. A 369 columns long horizontal scroll written in a beautiful cursive hand, the manuscript provides some of the finest explanations of calligraphic technique and aesthetics and has long since occupied a preeminent role in the history of calligraphy. Now kept at the National Palace Museum, Taipei, the scroll is still used as a model for the practice of the cursive script. Many are the studies on the Shu pu published in China and Japan and several English, German, and French translations already exist. However, the present book provides a new interpretation of some key questions related with the core meaning of the work. At the same time, it outlines the basic features of Sun Guoting’s life and its influence on his choice of the literary genre (pu), hitherto never used in calligraphy and painting treatises. By surveying the history of the word pu in Chinese pre-Tang literature and the differences among the literary genres of pre-Tang treatises on calligraphy, the present study on the one hand challenges the widely accepted theory of the Shu pu being a “treatise” on calligraphy; on the other, it shows how deep-rooted was Sun Guoting’s intention of writing a “manual” for teaching purposes. A critical edition conducted on the original manuscript column by column provides a comprehensive record of the entire text, including corrections and repetitions. An annotated English translation offers an almost word-to-word philologically-based interpretation of Sun Guoting’s ideas.