The 2025 Shanghai Book Fair and "Book-Rich China" Shanghai Week are currently underway at the Shanghai Exhibition Center. Art books undoubtedly occupy a significant portion of the fair's offerings. Works such as Zhao Heng's "Fifty Little Things," published by Sanlian Bookstore, "Great Dunhuang" and "So You Are This Kind of Sanyu," published by Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, and "Masterpieces for Students: Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual," published by Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House, have garnered significant attention. Organizers have held sharing events at the fair.
Shanghai Book Fair
Cultural scholar and former editor-in-chief of Beijing Yanshan Publishing House, Zhao Heng, held a book sharing session on his book "Fifty Little Things" at the Shanghai Book Fair on August 16th. Zhao Heng engaged in a conversation with cultural figures Chen Zishan, Xu Jun, and Lu Hao, revisiting the stories of "little things," discussing cultural heritage, and sharing their thoughts and insights on topics such as the relationship between "things" and people, and "things" in cultural life. "Fifty Little Things" features fifty "little things" from Zhao Heng's family collection, including calligraphy and paintings, inscriptions on stone tablets, elegant stationery, and calligraphy by friends and family. The book details the origins and circulation of each item, along with its historical context and aesthetic aesthetics. These timeless little things reflect the rich history and culture, and even the depth of human connection.
Inside page of Fifty Little Things
Fifty small items, encompassing calligraphy and paintings, inscriptions on stone tablets, elegant stationery, and calligraphy left by relatives and friends, are all from Mr. Zhao Heng's family collection. Among them are renowned heirlooms like the Song Dynasty rubbing of the Jixidian copy of "Jiucheng Palace" and the Dongli Runse Inkstone, as well as cherished items like his grandfather's seal and a fan leaf of calligraphy and painting gifted to his father by Qi Gong. The author prioritizes the cultural value of these "small items" rather than their economic value, meticulously describing each item's origins, historical background, and cultural connotations. His intimate narrative is imbued with a deep sense of cultural sentiment and human warmth.
The Dunhuang Contemporary Art Museum and Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House jointly hosted a sharing session on "Great Dunhuang," a book written by Sun Zhijun, Deputy Director of the Art Research Department and Research Librarian at the Dunhuang Academy. Drawing on four decades of field research, Sun Zhijun systematically explores Dunhuang's geography, historical evolution, and cultural heritage through over 300 on-site images and documentary research. Using temporal and spatial geography as a framework, the book breaks the stereotype that "Dunhuang is essentially a grotto," guiding readers to witness the geographical characteristics of "Dunhuang encompassed by the Gobi Desert" and the hydrological secrets of "two mountains, one spring."
The author Sun Zhijun uses on-site video evidence and documentary verification to present the relationship between the Sanwei Mountain rock strata and the excavation of caves, the Silk Road hub function of the desert post, and the civilization-nurturing value of the oasis corridor.
Great Dunhuang
Sun Zhijun explains his new book
On August 13th, the Hunan Publishing section of the Shanghai Book Fair hosted a new book sharing session for "Ancient Talk: Daily Life in Cultural Relics." Written by Wang Renxiang, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the book focuses on the daily lives of ancient people and explores the mundane aspects of everyday life, guiding readers to appreciate the daily lives of ancient people through historical details and to experience the cultural context through customs passed down from ancient times to the present. The book is divided into three themes: food, clothing, and religious beliefs. Using 20 engaging stories and over 400 images of cultural relics, the book analyzes the daily lives of ancient people and interprets Chinese civilization.
Antiquities: Daily Life of Ancient People in Cultural Relics
The following day, the exhibition area also hosted a book sharing session titled "So You Are This Kind of Sanyu," themed "Life's Uncommon Encounters." This book, which traces Sanyu's life story and incorporates relevant letters, photographs, and art criticism, reveals a three-dimensional Sanyu—not a deified "art master," but a flesh-and-blood human who experienced struggles and struggles. The book's author, art historian and curator Chen Lin, poet Kun Niao, and editor Pan Yiyan discussed Sanyu, using his biography as a guide to uncover the turbulent life of this "artistic prodigal."
So You Are This Kind of Chang Yu
The Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual is an essential text for learning Chinese painting techniques, widely acclaimed as the "cradle of the masters of Chinese painting," and highly regarded by artists. The new four-volume edition, "Masters' Imitations of Paintings for Students: The Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual," published by Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House, features a carefully selected, rare, original Kangxi edition, meticulously recreated, seamlessly restored, and newly annotated. The chapters of the Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual have been organically segmented and edited.
The Shanghai Book Fair invited people from the calligraphy and painting circles to decode the "past and present" of "The Mustard Seed Garden Painting Biography": from the literati's elegant deeds of Li Yu founding a publishing house to engrave books, to the inheritance and innovation of the publishing industry after the opening of Shanghai; from the exquisite woodcut of the first edition to the evolution of multiple versions such as Chao Xun's copy and the disciple draft version, revealing how a painting biography transcends time and becomes an artistic bridge connecting tradition and contemporary times.
Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual