The seal is not only a certificate of the author's work, but also an indispensable part of all kinds of works, such as calligraphy works 1. The artistic function of seals The seals on calligraphy works are indispensable in calligraphy works Without the seal, it would not be a complete calligraphy work. The seal was originally a token of trust and served as a confirmation. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, due to the emphasis on calligraphy, painting, inscriptions and signatures, calligraphers gradually realized the artistic role of seals and paid attention to playing this role in calligraphy works, so that the art of combining calligraphy and seal was formed. The contrast between calligraphy and printing not only adds color to calligraphy works, enlivens the atmosphere, and has the effect of "icing on the cake", but can also adjust the focus, remedy deficiencies in layout, and stabilize and balance the work. Signing and sealing calligraphy works can show solemnity and prevent forgery; stamping with elegant and meaningful leisure seals can also express the ambition and taste of the calligrapher. Therefore, calligraphers have always attached great importance to the use of seals, and even engraved them themselves, so that the calligraphy and seals can be organically combined to produce a more beautiful and stronger artistic appeal. 2. Several types of seals commonly used on calligraphy works (1) Name stamp The name stamp is used to sign the inscription. Some names are connected together and some are separated. The inscription and seal should be written with one name and one character, or one surname and one name. The name of the money is printed; the name of the money is printed with a name stamp. If the payment has a surname, a name seal can be used. If the payment does not have a surname, or if the payment is not signed, a name seal should be used to facilitate identification of the author. The ancients paid attention to etiquette when using seals; when a humble child writes to an elder, a name seal should be used; among ordinary people, a character seal should be used; when an elder writes to a humble child, a special name seal should be used. On the contrary, it will make people laugh. Zhang Daqian, a modern calligrapher and painter, believes that "square is the best shape for name stamps, and round is acceptable. If the waist is round, the natural shape is not suitable." Name stamps are generally divided into two types: Zhu Wen (Yang Wen) and Bai Wen (Yin Wen). When there are two name seals on a calligraphy work, it is best to have one in red and one in white, and the two chapters should be of appropriate size. When multiple chapters are used at the end of the payment, the order is the name seal first, then the word and number seals. (2) Xianzhang Xianzhang is also called layout chapter, including leading chapter, edge seal, corner seal and waist seal. 1. Introductory Chapter The introductory chapter is a seal stamped on the upper right side of a calligraphy work. It is also called a "shaped seal". It is a seal carved according to the shape of the stone. It is generally not suitable to be square, but semi-open or rectangular. , round, semi-circular, gourd-shaped, natural shape, zodiac shape, etc. are better. Whether the initial seal should be stamped on the calligraphy work depends on the needs. If the initial seal is too neat, it needs to be "broken"; the final seal is too heavy and needs to be "upgraded"; the distribution of seals on the work is monotonous and needs to be "adjusted". This is An initial seal should be considered. The introductory chapter can be divided into the following types according to its content: (1) Zhaihaozhang. The Zhaihaozhang of Shichuan originated from the jade seal of the residence of Li Miduan, the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty. After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, this trend became more and more popular, and almost every calligrapher had a Zhai title seal. Wen Zhengming, a calligrapher of the Ming Dynasty, said: "Many of my bookstores are built on seals." Zhai names are usually called Zhai, hall, room, building, pavilion, pavilion, xuan, nunnery, etc., such as Weiqingzhai, Xuexitang, Mo Sword Room, Xiaoyin Tower, Songfeng Pavilion, Laiguan Pavilion, Shangyu Pavilion, Lotte Temple, etc. (2) Elegant and Interesting Chapters are ancient auspicious sayings and phrases chapters. Most of them have meanings and are full of elegant taste. They may be a collection of philosophical and thought-provoking idioms and aphorisms, or record your own tastes and feelings. Elegant and interesting chapters have a wide range of content and encourage people to learn, such as "carry out", "learn from the past", "bookworm", "be good at diligence", "art has no limit", "learn from the past but not learn from the past", "learn widely" , "Reading books is a pleasure", "People who love to learn will be wise", "Long-term accumulation and accidental acquisition", etc.; there are expressions of feelings, such as "relying on virtue", "clear ambition", "pure interest", "happy and healthy", "Bliss in suffering", "Cherish the Yin", "Ruzi Niu", "Jade Clean Bingqing", "Indifferent Tianqu", "Laoji Fufeng", etc.; there are expressions of the interest of pen and ink, such as "Splashing Ink", "Bi Gong", "Xiangtian", "Divine interest", "Hidden clumsiness", "Addicted to this", "Xinyu hand pursuit", "Business in the inkstone field", etc.; there are auspicious wishes, such as "fulfillment", "long happiness", "beautiful and immortal", " "Auspicious days and good times", "Life is long and prosperous", "Shuhan has longevity", "Eternal and everlasting", etc. (3) Year stamp is used to record the age of calligraphy works, such as Jiazi, Yichou, Bingyin, or 1989, 1990, 1980s, 1990s, etc. (4) Month number stamp: used to record the month order of calligraphy works, such as Shangchun, Ruyue, Silkworm Moon, etc. 1. Bianbianzhang: Bianbianzhang refers to the seal that is placed on one side of the calligraphy work, which plays the role of blocking the edge and gathering energy. 2. Corner seal The seal stamped on the corner of a calligraphy work is called a corner seal. The upper right corner is called "Yingshou", and the two lower corners are called "Yijiao". The edge seal can only be used on one side; the corner seal can be used on both sides. It closes to the corner and plays the role of "blocking the edge and sealing the corners", "filling the void" and adjusting and stabilizing the picture.
3. Waist seal. If a long calligraphy work such as a banner only has an initial seal on the upper right and the middle looks empty, a waist seal can be added. The content is mostly the place of origin of the calligrapher, and the calligrapher's zodiac sign can also be used. The waist seal should be smaller than the initial seal and the last name seal, and the three seals should not be stamped in a straight line. The above-mentioned kinds of leisure seals are not "free" in fact. If the seals are properly printed, they can not only play the role of pen and ink, but also play a role that pen and ink cannot. As modern calligrapher and painter Pan Tianshou said: "The first chapter and the corner seal are the same as the name seal. They can echo the color changes on the picture, break up the flatness, and stabilize the balance." (3) Appreciation and collection. The Zhang Appreciation and Collection Seal is a seal used by appreciative collectors. According to reports, the collection seal also began in the Tang Dynasty and became popular after the Song Dynasty. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty used the two characters "Zhenguan" in his own calligraphy as a series of seals, and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty made a series of seals with the characters "Kaiyuan", both of which were used in the imperial collection of calligraphy and paintings. Later, there were many names for appreciation, such as collection, treasure, appraisal, appreciation, inspection, etc. When sealing seals for collection, the size of the calligraphy and painting should be considered, and the main thing is not to damage the words and pictures. Some collectors, in order to preserve their reputation through the ages, often destroy the picture when stamping. This should be avoided. 3. The art of sealing The seals on calligraphy works are not stamped randomly, but have certain rules. If the seal is improperly stamped, instead of being the icing on the cake, it will be self-defeating and destroy the artistic effect of the entire work. Therefore, how to seal requires serious consideration and careful consideration. In general, the following points can be grasped: 1. The size is appropriate for the seal. It should match the format of the work and should be equal to the inscription. It can be smaller. It cannot be larger than the inscription. If it is too large, it will be inelegant. If the characters are small and the paper is narrow, you can use small couplets and beads to show your thoughtfulness. When two seals of different sizes are used in a work, the upper one should be smaller and the lower one should be larger to achieve stability and avoid the disadvantage of being top-heavy. If several people cooperate, the seals of several people should also be of the same size. 2. The quantity should be less than the number of seals, and odd numbers are preferred in ancient times. There is a seal that says, "Use one instead of two, use three instead of four, and use an odd number to support the yang and suppress the yin." The number of seals should not be too many, because too many seals will cause confusion and even overwhelm the guest. If a work is digitally printed, different printing surfaces must be selected to avoid duplication. 3. The seal should be placed appropriately and the position should be carefully considered. A work always has its virtual reality, density and density. If the dense areas are not compact enough, you can use seals to fill them; if the sparse areas feel empty, you can use seals to fill them in, just like moving small "weights" to make the picture even and smooth. The position of the name and font size stamp at the end of the paragraph should be carefully arranged. If there is a blank space under the title, the stamp should be placed under the signature; if there is no blank space, it should be left rather than right. The stamps at the end of the payment should be kept at appropriate intervals to avoid crowding and loosening. A piece of work should bear both the introductory chapter and the corner seal, and should not be placed aside. The corner seal should be placed in the lower left corner, diagonally opposite to the lead seal. 4. Balance of weight As far as printing colors are concerned, red printing is lighter and white printing is heavier. For works with light and elegant ink, it is appropriate to use a red seal to keep the two in harmony; for works with a heavy ink, it is best to use a white seal to create a strong contrast between the red vermilion and the jet-black ink. If a work is printed with several seals, the printing colors should be of primary and secondary importance, that is, more vermilion and less white, more white and less vermilion, so that it is both varied and coordinated. 5. Consistent style. The style of the seal should be consistent with the style and style of the work. For example, a straight-forward urgent seal should not be stamped on a neat and beautiful regular script work. A bold and vigorous calligraphy work should not be stamped on a graceful iron wire seal. Otherwise, it will be out of place and directly affect the artistic effect of the calligraphy work. When using leisure seals, you must not only make sure that the content is integrated with the text of the work and cannot violate it, but also pay attention to maintaining the harmony between the content and style of the seal. For example, the seal of "Motherland, Rivers and Mountains" cannot be carved into pieces, and the seal of "Heroes of a Generation" cannot be carved into pieces. Be slender and weak. And so on. 4. Use and maintenance of ink pad If a fine seal does not have a fine, thick and smooth ink pad, its charm cannot be fully displayed, and the effect will be greatly inferior. Generally speaking, large characters are mostly made of Yin red ink. Vermilion ink pad is often used for small characters. Especially when printing on the black background of copybooks, vermilion ink pad must be used. Since the Qing Dynasty, the red color has become more and more intense, and ancient ink ink is often used to achieve a quaint effect, making it deep and solemn. For those who are more particular about it, they would cover it once with a seal, fearing that the color would be too light, so they would cover it again to make it thicker. Of course, they need to be consistent, which can only be achieved with the help of seals and rules. Rubber or other soft materials can be used as the cushion underneath when sealing, but it should not be too soft. Too soft will easily cause the imprint to be lost. The material of the ink pad is a mixture of cinnabar, oil and moxa. Cinnabar is heavy and oil is light. If they are not reconciled for a long time, the two will separate. The cinnabar will sink and the oil will float to the surface. It may even become sticky and deteriorate, making it difficult to use.
Therefore, every once in a while, use a bone paddle (no metal products) to stir the ink pad to make the three ingredients even. When stirring, keep it in one direction and don't pour it back and forth. The ink pad should be kept clean frequently. Before dipping the seal in mud, it should be wiped clean; especially for new stone seals, care should be taken to remove stone chips in the pen path to avoid contaminating the seal mud. When dipping in mud, do not use too much force and avoid pressing hard in the center of the ink mud. Instead, follow the threads of the ink mud and use a push-pull technique to dip it several times to make the ink mud evenly adhere to the printing surface. When sealing, press it straightly, use even force, do not shake, and do not focus on one side or one corner. In this way, the sealing effect will be ideal. There are many kinds of materials for seals, and common stones that are commonly used and affordable include Shoushan, Qingtian and other common stones. High-end ones also include chicken blood, Tianhuang, etc. There is a kind of pyrophyllite in Ludang, Zhoucheng, Liyang, which is a kind of engraving material. It is also called Liyang stone on the market. If you have the chance, you can find some to try. The use of seals in hard-pen calligraphy Zhang Yimin's traditional brush calligraphy has developed to this day and has formed a complete set of rules and regulations for the use of seals. The book and the seal have been harmoniously unified, and the seal has become an indispensable component of traditional calligraphy. part. So, how to use seals in hard-pen calligraphy developed on the basis of tradition? First of all, we must understand the function of seals. The purposes of using seals in calligraphy works are generally as follows: (1) To enrich the picture and balance the composition. (2) Supplement and enrich the content of the questions. (3) The artistic charm of the seal itself. (4) Conducive to appreciation and collection. Due to the difference in writing tools (pen, paper) between hard-pen calligraphy and traditional calligraphy, there are differences in form between the two. Since pen calligraphy is small in size and generally uses ordinary white paper, hard-pen calligraphy also has its own unique features in the use of seals. 1. Seal style: The line characteristics of hard-pen calligraphy are mainly "thin and hard", so it is advisable to choose a strong, thin and hard style seal. For hard-pen regular script, you can choose a seal with neat characters, for cursive script, you should choose a seal with vigorous characters, and for official seal script, you should choose a seal with simple characters. 2. The size and quantity of seals: Because the paper used in hard-pen calligraphy is small and the fonts are also small, the seals used in hard-pen calligraphy should be small rather than large. Generally, a seal of 8 to 10 mm will suffice. The seal used is too large, which is a common problem in many current hard-pen calligraphy works. In the same way, the number of seals used in the same work should be less than too many. Generally, only one seal is needed, and at most two seals are used (when using two seals, one red and one white is better). For authors, of course, they should prepare several seals with different styles for easy selection and use. 3. Number of words and content of the seal: The seal used in hard-pen calligraphy is smaller, so the number of words printed should be less rather than more (generally only one word is enough), and it should be simple rather than complicated. The content of the printed text is usually engraved with the author's "last name". Some authors only sign their signatures without surnames when signing, and the seals they affix are only "name seals" (without surnames). This creates a sense of repetition and fails to fully express the author's name. It is better to sign when signing, and then stamp a one-character "surname" stamp. In this way, the signature has a first name, a surname, a word, and a stamp, which can be said to complement each other. 4. Introductory chapter: In hard-pen calligraphy, due to the limitation of character size, it is generally not necessary to use the introductory chapter. In addition, traditional calligraphy uses rice paper, which can be preserved for a long time after being stamped and framed. Hard-pen calligraphy mostly uses ordinary white paper. After stamping, the ink pad floats on the paper. If it is not kept well, it will be easily stained. Therefore, it is advisable to use less seals in hard-pen calligraphy. Especially after the payment is made and there is no room for stamping, do not force it to be stamped. For ink pads, you should choose the right ones and use them wisely. What needs special attention is that the "seals" engraved by engraving shops are often unartistic and incompatible with calligraphy works, so it is best not to use them. In short, the number of seals used in hard-pen calligraphy should be small and small. The style of the seal should be selected according to the style of the work. It should be used according to the needs of the layout of the work. Use it when it is appropriate, and do not force it. Appropriate use of seals can add luster to the work; otherwise, it can only destroy the artistry of the work. (Selected from "Writing" Issue 5, 2005) If you need more knowledge, you can go to Sichuan Business Information