'Fatie Kangu' (法帖刊誤) is a two-volume work authored by Huang Bosi during the Song Dynasty. Huang Bosi, also known as Bosi, is the same author of the renowned treatise 'Dongguan Yulun' (東觀餘論).

The origin of 'Fatie Kangu' can be traced back to the critical evaluations of the 'Chunhua Ge Tie' (淳化閣帖) by Mi Fu. Mi Fu, a prominent calligrapher and art critic, had meticulously assessed the authenticity of the works in the 'Chunhua Ge Tie', often relying on his personal judgment rather than thorough historical evidence. Huang Bosi, recognizing the shortcomings and inaccuracies in Mi Fu's evaluations, took it upon himself to re-examine and correct these assessments, leading to the creation of 'Fatie Kangu'.

In the preface, dated to the Daoguan era (specifically the year Wuzi), Huang Bosi elaborates on the numerous flaws he identified in Mi Fu's work. He points out that Mi Fu often overlooked obvious forgeries, such as the works attributed to Zhuge Liang and the calligraphy of Wei Fu Ren. Additionally, Mi Fu sometimes misattributed works, such as attributing a piece written in the language of the Jin dynasty to Li Si, when it was actually from Li Yangbing's 'Mingzhou Stele'.

Huang Bosi's critique is thorough and well-documented. He provides detailed analyses and corrections, often supported by historical evidence. His work is characterized by its precision and reliance on factual data, setting a high standard for subsequent scholars.

The book concludes with two postscripts, one by Wang Zhen and the other by Xu Han, both dating to the Zhenghe period. According to Wang Zhen's postscript, 'Fatie Kangu' was written while Huang Bosi was serving in Luoyang, inspired by the calligraphy collections of the Wang family.

Initially, 'Fatie Kangu' was published as a standalone work, and it continues to be available in separate editions. It is also listed in various bibliographies. Later, Huang Bosi's son, Huang Yan, included it in the compilation of 'Dongguan Yulun'.

The significance of 'Fatie Kangu' is further highlighted by the comments of Tang Hou in his 'Hui Jian' (畫鑒). Tang Hou noted that while Mi Fu was an exceptional critic, his assessments sometimes contained errors. Huang Bosi, described as a person of great wisdom, wrote 'Fatie Kangu' to correct these mistakes. Tang Hou himself later wrote 'Fatie Zhengwu' (法帖正誤), which aimed to address the inaccuracies in Huang Bosi's work. However, Tang Hou's approach was more theoretical and lacked the empirical basis that Huang Bosi emphasized.

'Fatie Kangu' remains a seminal work in the field of calligraphy and art criticism, providing a critical and well-researched perspective on the 'Chunhua Ge Tie' and the works of Mi Fu.

References

• 《四庫全書總目提要·卷86 史部·目錄類二》

《法帖刊誤》

《法帖刊誤》是宋朝黃伯思所著，共二卷。黃伯思另有《東觀餘論》一書，已著錄。最初，米芾對《淳化閣帖》中的作品一一評定真偽，多數評定基於個人意見，少有考證。黃伯思則基於米芾的評定，重新訂正，最終完成此書。

《法帖刊誤》前有大觀戊子（1108年）黃伯思自序，指出米芾在評定過程中存在許多疏漏，例如未察覺明顯偽作如李懷琳所作的衛夫人書和王羲之的《闊別稍久帖》，又如評定張芝夫人諸草帖為唐代人書，卻未意識到這些作品是書寫晉人帖子的文字。此外，米芾雖評定某些作品真偽正確，但未能辨明其主名，如將田疇的字誤認為非李斯所書，而實際上這些字出自李陽冰的《明州碑》。再者，米芾有時誤定了作品的主名，例如將晉人章草中《諸葛亮傳》的文字誤認為是諸葛亮的書法作品。黃伯思的論述多數確鑿，其他部分亦有據可依。

書末附有政和年間（1111-1117年）王珍和許翰的兩篇跋文。根據王珍的跋文，此書是在黃伯思任職洛中時，觀看王珍家藏的《淳化閣帖》所作。該書原本自成一編，因此至今仍有單獨流通的版本，各書目也單獨著錄。後來，黃伯思的兒子黃言將此書編入《東觀餘論》中。

湯垕在《畫鑒》中評論道：「宋朝人中，鑒賞精妙無人能及米芾。然而米芾天資極高，有時立論過於偏激。後來有黃伯思出，撰寫《法帖刊誤》，專門批評米芾的錯誤。我進一步詳細辨析，撰寫《法帖正誤》，指出黃伯思的錯誤。」現今未見湯垕的書，無法確知他糾正了哪些錯誤。然而，湯垕也多為空談鑒別，不重視考證，因此他所糾正的內容未必準確。