The Images of the Merits of Shi and Hu Families: Between Popular Prints and Genealogies. Narratives of Loyalty to the Song Empire and the Edifying Practices of Huizhou Lineages in the Ming–Qing Dynasties

Abstract

The Images of the Merits (Baogong tu 報功圖) of the Shi 石 and Hu 胡 families, from southern Anhui and northeastern Jiangsu, are held in Anhui Provincial Museum (in Hefei) and Shanghai Museum respectively. Exceptional in size and printing techniques, these prints are equally special because of their content, which includes the history of the two families, with a focus on the period of the founding of the Song dynasty (960–1276), where family, local, and “national” narratives combine in a composite, yet unique and continuous visual representation. This study describes the documents, narrates the events depicted, and questions the dating, nature, and use of the Baogong tu prints. The aim of this article is to analyze what the prints tell us, not only about the events depicted, but also about the rural world in which they were created, a world where the prominence of the lineages was particularly pronounced in the late imperial period.