Wu Shuang Pu

Zhang Chengye as depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Gulian

Wu Shuang Pu is a book of woodcut prints, first printed in 1694, early on in the Qing dynasty. This book contains the biographies and imagined portraits of 40 notable heroes and heroines from the Han Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, all accompanied by a brief introduction and guided by a related poem in yuefu style. The illustrations from the book were widely distributed and re-used, often as motifs on Chinese porcelain.

Quotes

Mao Qiling

The scholar Mao Qiling lived from the late Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty and praised the book in the preface of the book.

• Quote: Chinese:《無雙譜》兼具書、畫、詩三絕。
• English: The "Wu Shuang Pu" is a collection of three masterpieces: calligraphy, painting, and poetry.
• Date: 1699

Lu Xun

The writer Lu Xun referred multiple times in his books to Wu Shuang Pu as a book of peerless heroes.

• Quote: Chinese:《無雙譜》：清代金古良編繪，內收從漢到宋四十個行為獨特人物的畫像，并各附一詩。這里借用來形容獨一無二。
• English: Wu Shuang Pu: Composed and painted by Jin Guliang in the Qing Dynasty, with forty portraits of unique characters from Han to Song, with a poem for each. Borrowed in this book (Rabbit and Cat) to describe uniqueness.
• Date: October 1922

Zhou Zuoren

Zou Zuoren described the book Wu Shuang Pu as unparalleled in his own book Modern Times.

• Quote: Chinese: 创作无双谱，此意自无双。
• English: The creation of the Wushuang spectrum is unparalleled.
• Date: April 29, 1901

Notes and references

• Wushuang Pu. St John's College, Cambridge. Retrieved October 13, 2021
• Wu Shuang Pu (in zh). on the site of Baidu Baike. Retrieved October 13, 2021
• Jin, Guliang, 17. Jh., ca. 1690: Wu shuang pu. Münchener DigitaliserungsZentrum Digitale Bibliothek. Retrieved October 13, 2021
• Wu Shuang Pu, Table of Peerless Heroes. The Gotheborg Antique Chinese and Japanese Porcelain Collector's Help and Info Page and Forum. Retrieved October 13, 2021