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Book/Printed Material Shui hu ye zi 水滸葉子

About this Item

Title

  • Shui hu ye zi

Other Title

  • 水滸葉子

Translated Title

  • Water Margin Leaves

Summary

  • Shui hu ye zi (Water margin leaves) was a masterpiece of early Qing created by Chen Hongshou (1598-1652). It contains 40 illustrations depicting the outlaws in the novel Shui hu zhuan (Water margin). Ye zi (leaves) were actually a set of printed playing cards, to be used in a wine drinking game at a banquet. A player drew a card and would empty a cup of wine according to the meaning of the painting on the card cover and the instruction written on the card. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, such games flourished, and became very popular. The paintings on the playing cards often were adapted from Chinese drama and fiction. Chen Hongshou, childhood name Lianzi, alternate name Xu'an, courtesy name Zhanghou, style names Laolian and Xiaojingming, was a native of Zhuji, Zhejiang. He studied with scholars Liu Zongzhou and Huang Daozhou and was conversant with poetry, calligraphy, and painting, particularly with figure painting. Among his many works, Jiu ge tu (Illustrations to the nine songs), Bo gu ye zi (Leaves of venerating the antiquities), Zhang Shenzhi zheng bei xi xiang ji mi ben (Secret edition of the northern west chamber corrected by Zhang Shenzhi), and Xin juan jie yi yuan yang jia jiao hong ji (New edition of the story of mistress Jiaoniang and maid Feihong), were considered his masterpieces. According to Tao'an meng yi (Reminiscences in dreams of Tao'an), by Ming writer Zhang Dai, Chen Hongshou completed this work in four months. The paintings show all of the outlaws of Water Margin (for example, Song Jiang) with the imposing manner of loyal and righteous heroes. The book presented here has no preface or table of contents. The work became very popular after its publication.

Names

  • Chen, Hongshou, 1598-1652 Illustrator

Created / Published

  • [Place of publication not identified] : [Publisher not identified], [1620 to 1652]

Headings

  • -  China
  • -  1620 to 1652
  • -  Brigands and robbers
  • -  Chinese fiction
  • -  Games
  • -  Playing cards

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 40 pages : accordion binding ; 14.2 x 26 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: National Library of China.
  • -  Content in Chinese.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
  • -  Title revised per Asian Division.--cc28 2023-01-06

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021666517

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Chen, Hongshou, Illustrator. Shui Hu Ye Zi. [Place of publication not identified: Publisher not identified, to 1652, 1620] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666517/.

APA citation style:

Chen, H. (1620) Shui Hu Ye Zi. [Place of publication not identified: Publisher not identified, to 1652] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666517/.

MLA citation style:

Chen, Hongshou, Illustrator. Shui Hu Ye Zi. [Place of publication not identified: Publisher not identified, to 1652, 1620] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021666517/>.