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There are two texts with the title Lunshubiao 論書表 "Discussion on calligraphy submitted to the throne as a memorial". One was written during the Liu-Song period 劉宋 (420-479) by Yu He 虞龢 (fl. 467) and the second one under the Northern Wei dynasty 北魏 (386-534) by Jiang Shi 江式 (d. 523).
Yu He 虞龢 hailed form Yuyao 余姚 near Guiji 會稽 (today in Zhejiang). He lived during the Taishi reign-period 泰始 (432-437) and was Vice Director of the Palace Secretariat (zhongshu shilang 中書侍郎) and Chamberlain of Law Enforcement (tingwei 廷尉). His Lunshubiao was compiled together with Chao Shangzhi 巢尚之, Xu Xixiu 徐希秀 and Sun Fengbo 孫奉伯. It discusses the calligraphic works of Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (303-361), Wang Xianzhi 王獻之 (344-386), Zhong Yao 鍾繇 (151-230), Zhang Zhi 張芝 (d. 192), Zhang Xu 張昶 (d. 206) and Yang Xin 羊欣 (370-442), and was presented as a memorial to Emperor Ming 宋明帝 (r. 466-472). The document points out the particular features of the calligraphic achievements and styles during the Han 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE), Wei 曹魏 (220-265), and Jin 晉 (265-420) periods, and praises the excellent style of the two Wangs, whose oeuvres should serve as models for future generations. The memorial also criticizes the increasing amount of forgeries, and contrasts them with the exact tracing of the origin and transmission of genuine artworks, for instance, by mounting them on precious material of scrolls. The authors stress the quality of paper, ink, brushes and ink-stones necessary for the creation of outstanding calligraphic works.
The text can be found in the books Fashu yaolu 法書要錄 and Mochibian 墨池編 (abbreviated) and the series Lidai shufa lunwen xuan 歷代書法論文選.
Jiang Shi 江式, courtesy name Fa'an 法安, hailed from Chenliu 陳留 (today's Kaifeng 開封, Henan) and was famous for his mastery of the seal-script style (xiaozhuan 小篆) used for creating the large name boards (banti 板題) of the buildings of the imperial palace in Luoyang 洛陽. He held the office of editorial director of the Palace Secretariat (zhuzuolang 著作郎) and later obtained the title of Cavalry General (xiaoji jiangjun 驍騎將軍) and the honorific title of regional inspector (cishi 刺史) of the province of Bazhou 巴州.
His dictionary Gujin wenzi 古今文字 was not finished before Jiang died. The memorial prepared to present this book to the throne, however, survived. This is Jiang's Lunshubiao. It explains the emergence and development of the Chinese script and discusses the most important studies on Chinese characters.
The text is quoted in Jiang Shi's biographies in the official dynastic histories Weishu 魏書 and Beishi 北史, and is also included in the series Lidai shufa lunwen xuan.