Hu 's most notable work is the Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy ( Shizhuzhai Shuhuapu , 十竹齋書畫譜 ) , an anthology of around 320 prints by around thirty different artists ( including Hu himself ) , published in 1633 . It consists of eight sections , covering calligraphy , bamboo , flowers , rocks , birds and animals , plums , orchids and fruit . Some of these sections had been released previously as single volumes . As well as a collection of artworks , it was also intended as an artistic primer , with instructions on correct brush position and technique and several pictures designed for beginners to copy . Although these instructions only appear in the sections on orchids and bamboo , the book still remains the first example of a categorical and analytical approach to Chinese painting . In this book , Hu used his multiple @-@ block printing methods to obtain gradations of colour in the images , rather than obvious outlines or overlaps . The manual is bound in the " butterfly binding " ( hudie zhuang , 蝴蝶裝 ) style , whereby whole @-@ folio illustrations are folded so that each occupies a double @-@ page spread . This binding style allows the reader to lay the book flat in order to look at a particular image . Cambridge University Library released a complete digital scan of the manual , including all writings and illustrations in August , 2015 . Said Charles Aylmer , Head of the Cambridge University Chinese Department , " The binding is so fragile , and the manual so delicate , that until it was digitized , we have never ain't able to let anyone look through it or study it – despite its undoubted importance to scholars . "