Interesting talk about seals·Mi Fu
"Mi Fu": Mi Fu (1051-1107), first name, courtesy name Yuan Zhang, also known as Haiyue Waishi, Xiangyang Manshi, etc. It is known as "Minang Palace" in the world. He lived in Taiyuan for generations, later moved to Xiangyang, and lived in Runzhou (now Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) in his later years. An outstanding calligrapher and painter in the Northern Song Dynasty. He once held a doctorate in painting, served as an official and a member of the Ministry of Ceremonies, and was a member of the Huaiyang Army. Because of his wild personality, he was called "Midian". Able to write poems and essays, be good at identification, and good at calligraphy and painting. In running script and cursive script, he has learned from the strengths of his predecessors, especially Wang Xianzhi, who is able to come up with new ideas and has a superb style. Together with Su Shi, Huang Tingjian and Cai Xiang, they are known as the "Four Song Dynasty Schools". He is good at painting landscapes with ink dots to create the appearance of smoke and clouds, creating a unique style. He also painted figures, plum blossoms, pine trees, orchids, chrysanthemums, etc., without falling into stereotypes. The extant Dharma books include "Shu Su Tie", "Elegy to the Queen Mother", "Duojinglou Poems", etc. He also wrote "History of Calligraphy", "History of Painting", "History of Inkstones", and "Collection of Baojin Yingguang".
"Yuanhui" seal
Mi Fu's son Mi Youren, named Yuanhui, nicknamed Hu'er. The nickname "Hu'er" is said to come from a post name of Zhang Xu, while "Yuanhui" is taken from an ancient seal given to Mi Fu by Huang Tingjian.
The Song Dynasty was an era when literati seals emerged, and Mi Fu was the first seal engraver to personally practice seal engraving at that time. Around him, artists at that time aroused a strong interest in ancient seals. They all consciously explored the aesthetic significance of ancient seals from an artistic perspective. Among them, Huang Tingjian, a great calligrapher slightly earlier than Mi Fu, was also a lover of seals. Once, Huang Tingjian accidentally got an ancient seal with the inscription "Yuan Hui", so he gave it to Mi Fu and praised Mi Fu's son Mi Youren for his outstanding talent and "the power of his writing can carry a cauldron". The ancient seal (the art of seal cutting) began to be linked with the art of painting and calligraphy. So whose original is this charming ancient seal? It belongs to Xie Yuanhui of Southern Qi Dynasty. The official article is clear and beautiful, he is good at cursive writing, and he is an artist. It is precisely because the original owner is an artist that Huang Tingjian gave Mi Youren the same name as the ancients.
Statue of Mi Fu
Mi Fu