Ch: hualun. Discourses on Painting. Writings on painting theory, criticism, principles or classification, also including books on painting subjects, history and biographies of painters. A key component in the development of Chinese and Japanese painting, garon served to stimulate the creation of new styles and approaches to painting as well as to provide historical and theoretical rational for extant paintings. The origin of garon can be traced to the discussion of painting in Chinese philosophical texts of the Spring and Autumn period, but the real beginning of the genre can be found in the Six Dynasties text Lunhua (Jp: Ronga 論画 ) by Gu Kaizhi (Jp: Ko Gaishi 顧愷之, ca. 344-ca. 406). Important early Chinese garon include the Guhua pinlu (Jp: Koga hinroku 古画品録) by Xie He (Jp: Sha Kaku 謝赫), famous for its discussion of the Six Laws *rikuhō 六法 much discussed in later Chinese and Japanese garon, and Zhang Yanyuan's (Jp: Chō Gen'en 張彦遠) Lidai minghuaji (Jp: Rekidai meigaki 歴代名画記). In Japan there were no real garon until the 17th century when a number of texts were produced in response to Chinese models. However, early discussions of artists and painting styles can be found in the Broom Tree *Hahakigi 帚木, chapter of Murasaki Shikibu's 紫式部 Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji, ca. 1010 ; see *genji-e 源氏絵), and the eleventh section of Tachibana Narisue's 橘成季 anthology of narrative stories setsuwa 説話, Kokon chomonjū 古今著聞集 (Stories Heard from Old and New Writers) of 1254. The 15th-century text *Kundaikan sōchōki 君台観左右帳記 is a connoisseur manual including classification and notes on the display of Chinese paintings in the collection of the Ashikaga 足利 shogunate. Written in the first years of the 17th century, Hasegawa Tōhaku's 長谷川等伯 (1539-1610) *Tōhaku gasetsu 等伯画説 (Tōhaku's Explanations of Painting), which includes the artist's opinions on Chinese Song and Yuan painting *sōgenga 宋元画 as well as on earlier Japanese works, is usually considered the first Japanese garon. In the mid 17th century, the dual stimuli of garon imported from China *Hasshu gafu 八種画譜 and *Kaishien gaden 芥子園画伝 and the need for competing painting schools to pass on knowledge and to legitimize their positions by grounding their painting methods in theory led to the creation of numerous garon. The first scholar to attempt to create an art history was Kano Ikkei 狩野一渓 (1599-1662), whose *Kōsoshū 後素集 (1623) introduced Chinese painting theory and includes a massive catalogue of Chinese painting subjects, and whose *Tansei jakubokushū 丹青若木集 (ca. 1648-55) is a biography of 153 artists beginning in the Muromachi period. Kano Sosen's 狩野素川 (also known as Nobumasa 信政, 1607-58) no longer extant *Tokaii hōkan 図絵宝鑑 was an even more detailed biography, as is *Gakō binran 図工便覧 (ca. 1680). Continuing in this tradition Kano Einō's 狩野永納 (1612-97) *Honchō gashi 本朝画史 set new standards for the study of painters and paintings. Kano Yasunobu's 狩野安信 (1613-85) *Gadō yōketsu 画道要訣 (1680) and Tosa Mitsuoki's 土佐光起 (1617-91) *Honchō gahō taiden 本朝画法大伝 (1690), intended to pass on the secret teachings of the two competing schools, show a skillful adaptation of Chinese painting theory to the Kano and Tosa ideologies, respectively. These 17th-century garon provided the groundwork for a wide range of later garon used to bolster the already flourishing *ukiyo-e 浮世絵, *nanga 南画, and *yōfūga 洋風画 lineages. For instance, Nishikawa Sukenobu's 西川祐信 (1671-1751) *Gahō saishikihō 画法彩色法 (included in Ehon wabigoto 絵本倭比事, 1742) shows the conscious attempt of ukiyo-e artists to link themselves to the *yamato-e やまと絵 tradition. Kuwayama Gyokushū's 桑山玉州 (1746-99) Gyokushū gashu 玉州画趣 (1790) and *Kaiji higen 絵事鄙言 (1799) seek to show the creative interpretation of the Chinese Southern School *nanshūga 南宗画. Satake Shozan's 佐竹曙山 (1748-85) *Gahō kōryō 画法綱領 (1788) and Shiba Kōkan's 司馬江漢 (1747-1818) *Seiyō gadan 西洋画談 (1799) look at painting from the viewpoint of Western naturalism. Banshi 万紙, the notes of the Enman'in 円満院 abbot Yūjō 祐常 (1723-73), and Oku Bunmei's 奥文鳴 (d. 1813) Sensai Maruyama-sensei den 仙斎円山先生伝 (1801) record Maruyama Ōkyo's 円山応挙 (1733-95) ideas on drawing from life. The 19th century saw a spate of garon on southern-school painting as well as massive gaden 画伝 or painters' biographies. For instance, in *Gadō kongōsho 画道金剛杵 (1801) and Chikutō garon 竹洞画論 (1802), Nakabayashi Chikutō 中林竹洞 (1776-1853) argued against Western and Maruyama-Shijō style painting *Maruyama Shijō-ha 円山四条派 from the standpoint of orthodox Chinese literati theory and technique. Tanomura Chikuden's 田能村竹田 (1777-1835) *Sanchūjin jōzetsu 山中人饒舌 (1813) is a Chinese style combination of anecdotes together with admonitions on painting methods. Watanabe Kazan's 渡辺華山 (1793-1841) letters to Tsubaki Chinzan 椿椿山 (1801-54) and Chinzan's disciple Yoshida Ryūkei 吉田柳けい (fl. ca. 1840-50), written in 1845-46, show the serious attitude of southern school artists to the study of garon. On the other hand, Keisei Eisen's 渓斎英泉 (1753-1811) Yamato eshi ukiyo-e no kō 和絵師浮世絵之考 in Mumei zuihitsu 無名翁随筆 (in Zōho ukiyo-e ruikō 増補浮世絵類考; 1833) defends the position of ukiyo-e artists and criticizes the practice of making *funpon 粉本 (copybooks). Ōta Nampō's 太田南畝 (1749-1823) *Ukiyo-e ruikō 浮世絵類考 (ca. 1789), Asaoka Okisada's 朝岡興偵 (1800-56) *Koga bikō 古画備考 (ca. 1845-50) and Hori Naotada's 掘直格 (1806-80) *Fusō meigaden 扶桑名画伝 (ca. 1854) all show the late Edo predilection for comprehensive biographies.