中国历代绘画大系：一部艺术文化史的“百科全书”
赓续传统文化之魅，赋予其现代化之魂。
在浙江大学西溪校区的展厅里，陈列着装帧精美的“中国历代绘画大系”，历代中国古代绘画以前所未有的清晰与精美的姿态在皇皇巨著上重现。
这是一份为中国艺术研究者提供的饕餮大餐，透过这些优秀作品，我们可以看到历代书画艺术特色，看到古人生活以及生活中的场景、陈设、造物活动等。
一幅幅精妙绝伦的古画令参观者们纷纷驻足流连。这次精品巡展不仅开拓了参观者的专业视野，也让大众深刻了解了中国名画背后的故事以及绘画艺术的魅力。
中国历代绘画大系作为之江艺术长廊中的核心内容之一，其精品巡展正面向全国展开，让大家看见了充满中华优秀传统文化气息的书画中国。
下一步，“中国历代绘画大系”将力争成为浙江新时代全面展示中国特色社会主义制度优越性的重要窗口和高质量发展建设共同富裕示范区的一颗“明珠”，成为浙江省委、省政府着力打造的之江艺术长廊的核心内容之一。
一部图像文献集大成之作
中国是世界文明古国，有着辉煌灿烂的优秀传统文化。其历代绘画则寄托着中华民族的精神追求和美好梦想，是中华民族与全人类的共同精神财富。系统、全面地搜集、整理、研究、出版中国历代绘画精品，成为抢救性保护和普及性传播中国历代绘画艺术的当务之急。
2005年，由浙江大学、浙江省文物局负责编撰的“中国历代绘画大系”项目获批。这是一项规模浩大、纵贯历史、横跨中外的国家级重大文化工程。
项目首次在全世界范围内对现存自先秦至清代的纸、绢（含帛、绫）、麻质地的中国历代绘画作品，在全面系统的调查、整理、考证基础上编纂出版。项目共收录了海内外260余家文博机构的纸、绢（含帛、绫）、麻等材质的中国绘画藏品12250余件（套），其中国内藏品9000余件（套）、国外藏品3250余件（套），拍摄高精度底片共2.3万余张，涵盖了绝大部分传世的“国宝”级绘画珍品;工程先后编纂出版《先秦汉唐画全集》《宋画全集》《元画全集》《明画全集》《清画全集》共计62卷230余册，参与撰稿者达500余人。它是迄今为止同类出版物中藏品收录最全、图像记录最真、印制质量最精、出版规模最大的中国绘画图像文献。
专家表示，“中国历代绘画大系”是目前全球范围内最大限度还原中国古代绘画神韵的高精度、大开本图像文献集成。这部巨册入编作品丰富，画面精美，题跋、印章清晰，集鉴赏性、学术性、收藏性于一体，为欣赏中国古代绘画，厘清其真伪和流传提供了清晰、权威的传世图像，是目前研究中国艺术史和文化史的“百科全书”。
一段十数载的编纂历程
历经千年沧桑、流散世界各处的中国古代绘画，汇聚成册，重炫亮色，这是《中国历代绘画大系》所创造的盛景。
如此浩大的工程背后是無数工作人员的努力。在浙江大学出版社“中国历代绘画大系”编纂出版办公室和图像制作室，编纂人员经年累月默默努力着，十四载寒来暑往，“中国历代绘画大系”入编的1.1万余件作品中，每件都有千回百转的故事;每一张图甚至一张图的某个局部或细节，与相关方来来回回沟通，在“大系”编纂的十几年中早已司空见惯。
“大系”入编的作品中，藏于国内的约有8600件，除了博物馆新入藏的，以及各种原因未经中国古代书画鉴定组鉴定的极少数作品之外，每件作品均能在《中国古代书画目录》《中国古代书画图目》中找到，都被定为真迹，有不少还被定为“佳作”和精品。藏于国外的约有3000件，许多作品第一次以高清质量入编画册，不少作品流传有序，经过了国内外很多专家的鉴定。其中来自敦煌藏经洞的作品是大英博物馆和俄罗斯艾尔米塔什博物馆为“大系”重拍的。
打满9页纸的表格，记录的是“大系”收录作品涉及的200余家国内外文博机构的名单。这背后，是编纂团队十余年来从不间断、踏遍万水千山的寻找。在日本，拍摄团队经历过地震、超强台风，还有人受过伤。在美国，负责采集图像资源的同事，一干就是十来年。在德国，“大系”项目组赶在柏林国家博物馆亚洲艺术馆长达4年的闭馆修建之前，成功取得了拍摄许可。在俄罗斯，项目组曾求助过上海经合组织相关负责人，也求教过当年留苏学画、现已白发苍苍的老先生，如肖峰、邵大箴等，终于在去年敲定了与艾尔米塔什博物馆的合作事宜，才有了盼望已久、按照标准重拍的西夏黑水城204件高清图像。
一路传承的传统文明
为了不断提升“大系”的学术价值，根据编纂要求，《先秦汉唐画全集》《明画全集》和《清画全集》，每一卷都要有一篇约两万字的概述，介绍相关画派或重要名家，同时入编的重要绘画作品还必须配有说明。
打开《先秦汉唐画全集》，“传世作品”卷1.9万余字的概述，详细论述了汉唐人物画、汉唐山水画的特色，涉及国内外参考资料达80余处，其专业性和严谨性可见一斑。
编纂工作需要与众多学者、作者进行沟通，《明画全集》是由40多位作者参与，共同完成两卷500余件绘画中逾三分之一作品的图版说明。而每一个出现在“大系”中的画家，原则上都要求有生平介绍，其中许多画家在画史上未有记载或记载简略，此前也从未被认真研究过，因此作品说明的撰写者往往需要花费大量的时间去梳理画史，查阅相关资料。
比如明代宫廷画家周全的《狮子图》，涉及到画家本身的资料非常少，过去只在正德年间的《图绘宝鉴续编》上提到过5个字“周全，工画马”，流传至今的作品也只有两幅。经过一系列细致的研究推算，才逐渐判断出作品的大致年份。
即使是一些研究较多的知名画家，由于“大系”要求其作品大致以时间为序排列，因此大量未明确创作时间的作品也需要通过题跋、印章、画风等来综合考证，判断其大致创作时间，这实际上也是对相关作品的进一步梳理、研究。
如今，全世界的艺术爱好者都可以通过“中国历代绘画大系”，鉴赏迄今为止最为清晰、代表中国古代绘画最高水平的画作，感悟中国五千年传统文明的真善美，并一路传承。
正如編纂工作相关负责人所说：“中国古人著书立说，最大的愿望就是藏诸名山传之后世。也许将来，有人会因为看到书里的某一张画，就突然爱上了中国。”
In a traditional hall at Huzhou University， an exhibition was going on： collections of the Series of Ancient Chinese Paintings were on display， the exquisitely printed and bound books showing ancient Chinese paintings in the finest details. Not only paintings， calligraphy and arts， but how the ancients went about their life， the scenes of life and their daily activities can all be gleaned through the collections. One by one， visitors at the exhibition were invariably mesmerized by the stunning ancient paintings， which oozed with aesthetic appeal， as well as the stories behind these paintings.
As one of the key projects in the Zhijiang Art Corridor， the Great Series of Ancient Chinese Paintings is on a national exhibition tour， and the exhibition at Huzhou University， running from June 22 to July 9， was the first stop. In the next few months， exhibitions will be held in major cities across the country.
As an ancient civilization with a splendid and continuous traditional culture， China is known for its numerous painters born over the past tens of centuries. The paintings they created embody the spiritual pursuit and the dreams of the Chinese nation and they are the treasures of both China and all mankind， which should be made accessible to everybody and shared with the world. Therefore， systematic and comprehensive collection， collation， research and publication of the finest works of Chinese paintings have long been called for to better protect and popularize these paintings.
In 2005， the project， entitled “the Great Series of Ancient Chinese Paintings”， to collect and compile ancient Chinese paintings jointly by Zhejiang University and Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage was formally approved， signaling the start of a large-scale and long-term national cultural endeavor that spans several continents.
For the first time， surviving Chinese paintings across the world painted on paper， silk and hemp from pre-Qin （221-207 BC） period to the Qing dynasty （1616-1911） were collated and published on the basis of comprehensive and systematic investigation， and textual research. In all， a total of 12，250 pieces （sets） of paintings from more than 260 cultural institutions and museums have been collected. Of these pieces （sets）， some 9，000 are from domestic collections while the rest （3，250） are from foreign collections. In addition， in excess of 23，000 high-resolution photos have been taken of the original paintings， covering the vast majority of works that are deemed Chinas “national treasures”. Thus far， 62 sets of collections in more than 230 volumes have been published， including the Complete Collections of Paintings of the Pre-Qin Period， and the Han and Tang Dynasties， Complete Collections of Paintings of the Song Dynasty， Complete Collections of Paintings of the Yuan Dynasty， Complete Collections of Paintings of the Ming Dynasty and Complete Collections of Paintings of the Qing Dynasty.
In total， 500-odd experts and scholars have contributed to these publications， which are the largest and the most complete collections of Chinese paintings， with the most authentic images and the best printing. With a few rare exceptions， almost all the authentic ancient Chinese paintings in China that are listed in the Catalogue of Selected Works of Ancient Chinese Painting and Calligraphy and the Illustrated Catalogue of Selected Works of Ancient Chinese Painting and Calligraphy， the two most authoritative catalogues of its kind， have been photographed and collected in the publications. Of the 3，250 pieces （sets） of paintings collected from foreign institutions and museums， most have been printed in high-quality images into an album for the first time.
Indeed， the “Great Series”， as both the project and the publications are commonly referred to， is now itself considered one of the most authoritative collections on Chinese paintings — an “encyclopedia” to turn to for the research on Chinese art history and culture history.
These paintings， scattered around the world， are finally being gathered together after undergoing the vicissitudes of seasons for thousands of years， and regaining their shining glories of past. This is what the “Great Series” intended to achieve at the outset， and underlying such an accomplishment are the efforts of innumerable people. In the editorial and image-processing offices of the “Great Series” project at Zhejiang University Press， staff members have toiled day and night for the past decade and a half： behind each work collected in the “Great Series” are stories with many twists and turns; endless back and forth with relevant parties concerning a single image or details of an image has become the norm rather than the exception. In Japan， the photographing team encountered strong earthquakes and had to brave typhoons， and several members even sustained injuries in the process of getting the best images. In the US， those in charge of collecting image resources dug in and have stayed in their positions since the project commenced 15 years ago. In Germany， the photographing team successfully obtained permission from the Museum of Asian Art in Berlin， before it was closed for a four-year renovation. And in Russia， the “Great Series” project team asked for help from officials of the Shanghai Cooperation Organizations and prestigious Chinese artists such as Xiao Feng and Shao Dazhen， who once studies in the Soviet Union， before some 204 high-quality images could be taken of the art works collected at the State Hermitage Museum of Khara-Khoto （or Black City） of the Western Xia （1038-1227）.
The high-resolution images of these ancient Chinese paintings have undoubtedly enhanced the quality， the desirability and the collectability of the series. On the other hand， the introduction to each volume has greatly increased its scholarly value. About of 20，000 words in length， these introductions serve as an overview on the paintings and painters mentioned in the volume， as well as the historical， political， social and economic contexts that they were born. For example， the introduction to the Complete Collections of Paintings of the Pre-Qin Period， and the Han and Tang Dynasties cited over 80 references and systematically examined the features of the portrait and landscape paintings， showing the academic rigor of the research.
Now， art lovers from all over the world are able to appreciate the best ancient Chinese paintings through the series， enjoy the beauty of Chinas 5，000-year-old civilization and pass it down to future generations.