長期依附在僧道之後的女性藝術家傳記，到了清中葉赫然在斯西開始獨立編撰成史，包括首開其風的〈玉臺書史卜和百年後腫其步的〈玉臺畫史〉等。兩書可以說是最早匯集歷代善書畫女性傳記的專史，當代學者論及中國女性藝術史的研究莫不溯及此二書。然而，我們對這兩本最先將賦予女性藝術家獨立歷史的書籍製作所知有限。是什麼樣的文化脈絡使得這些女性藝術家史得以獨立成書?為什麼清代中期相距百年的前西文士對女性書畫家如此有興趣?本文從斯西獨特的藝文傳統，包括斯西的書史論述與地方書籍和藝術收藏，來釐清女性藝術史獨立成書的緣由與意義。首先，晚明嘉興女藝術家和收藏界對於女性書畫的興趣，奠立了日後女性藝術家傳記得以在斯西獨立成史的重要基礎。第二，不論清前期杭州、|文士檢錄女書家資料，或是清後期斯西重新興起將女書畫家傳記獨立成書的風潮，其實都和地方認同不可分割。斯西獨特的藝文傳承與女性藝術史獨立成書，共同交織成清代中葉別樹一格的文化現象，是關注女性藝術史與清代文化史不可忽視的課題。

The Jade Terrace History of Calligraphy and The Jade Terrace History of Painting surfaced as two prime examples. These books were the first compilations consisting solely of biographies of women artists, and, as such, have drawn a great deal of modern academic attention. Very little, however, is known about the background of these compilations. In what cultural contexts did these separate histories of female calligraphers and painters appear? Why were mid-Qing male literati interested in women artists? This article explores the Zhexi cultural tradition, including the discourses of calligraphy and the local collections of art and books, in order to determine the context, reason for, and meaning ascribed to independent compilations of female artist biographies. First, the interest toward women artists among Ming male and female connoisseurs of the Jiaxing period encouraged Zhexi natives in the Qing period to collect related materials. Second, constructing a local identity was essential to both the Hangzhou scholars of the early Qing and the literati of nineteenth-century Zhexi. I argue that earlier generations of local elites amassed biographies of women artists from local history and collections, while later generations expanded these as a way of emulating those before. It is the unique Zhexi cultural tradition that serves as the key to understanding this phenomenon of separately compiling biographies of female artists, a topic that those interested in Qing cultural history and Chinese women’s art should not ignore.