Min Qi Drain, Engraved "true Figure" Test

This thesis containing several studies based on a series of Chinese colored woodcuts (Hui Zhen Tu) created by Min Qiji in the Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst in Cologne. An attempt will be made, using text and illustrations, to give an exhaustive account of three leaves and to provide the reader with sufficient information so that, he may acquire a wider understanding of the series of woodcuts and the history. This thesis contains three studies of Frontpiece, Leaf 15, and Leaf 16. The study of Frontpiece has three parts: the explanation of the phenomenon"Tuo Min"in the prints of Ying-ying portrait in Ming by clarifying the changes of Ying-ying in literature and art; the description of the style through a comparative discussion of three different prints; the iconology study of the patterns in the frame. The study of Leaf 15, through introducing the traditions of fan as art and fan as leaving present, studies the date of this album. The study of Leaf 16 reveals the iconography of the clam and mist in it.