Strangely, young friends often ask me for seals, probably because I occasionally doodle and print, and I know a lot about several ancient Chinese characters. But I can't use a knife at all, and my eyesight is poor. Helpless, I went to the streets to find someone to carve it. In recent years, I have spent a little money from Liulichang in Beijing, Antique City in Zhengzhou and Cultural Street in Tianjin to Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan and Hefei. Income is either for personal use or given away. Some of them are reasonable, and even these hand-carved works can be seen in calligraphy and seal cutting publications.
There are two principles for the elderly to find someone to cure printing: one is not to ask everyone. The big name brandishes a knife and leaves a few red or white, straight or curved lines with a wave of his hand. The asking price is several thousand yuan, which is too expensive. Second, don't look at the title. There is a sign "Member of Calligraphers Association" in front of the printing house, and I have never been on it. Just look at his ready-made things first, the art is acceptable, and the price is right, so he calmly settled in.
Might as well give a few examples.
The "Chinese seal" of the 2008 Olympic Games is great! How much is it worth? Who knows? But I don't think it's good: there is no knife feeling on the lines. The image has the softness of a dancer but no strength of an athlete, and it is only suitable for marking a ballroom. On the concept, people all over the world will only think that it is borrowed from the characters in Safe Passage, instructing people to escape in the corridors of buildings and halls. This is a national player.
There used to be an old gentleman in Qingliangshan, Nanjing who took care of printing for me. Three or five yuan a word is the lowest price in the city. No fame, no title. But in my opinion, I have some skills. A few years ago, I got an inkstone in Tunxi, Anhui. If I write one or two hundred words myself, I'll let him type them out without typing, and I'll lend him an Oracle dictionary to enjoy. Selfish, I want less money. Unexpectedly, after engraving, it is fashionable and organized, just like a miniature running script. Run an example? Speaking of guilt, every word is about fifteen points. This is an anonymous sculptor.
He has an apprentice, Xiao P, who is poorer. In those days, he openly copied Wu Zhongqi in the street with a bare pen, a teacup full of ink (not even an inkstone) and a desk the size of two laptops. The middleman got the Chaotian Palace Antique Market, a pair of couplets, and got it for ten yuan and eight yuan. What about now? Wu Zhongqi returned to Daoshan, and his boss, the old gentleman who carved stamps for a living, also left, but he made his debut. Most of the "Wu Zhongqi" in Nanjing's large and small calligraphy and painting shops are written by him, and the asking price has risen to three figures. Although people who know a little about Wu Zhongqi know that it is a fake, and it is a fake of poor quality. But I believe there are still many people who "recognize" it. Why else would they sell it everywhere? Even the plaques in many calligraphy and painting shops use his "Wu Zhongqi". I'm not saying this to be fake. I just want to say that many people are unknown, have no titles, and many people have acceptable skills.
Once I went to buy leisure stamps, and the store was quite imposing. Relying on it, the store has three titles, and the store is not bad. Pick a price and answer "300".
"Twenty-eight." I make a counter offer.
"Why?" The host asked.
I just laughed.
The host was a little anxious: "It doesn't matter if you don't buy it. You have to tell me why you don't pay more or less 28? "
"One, this is imitation, Xu Sangeng. Second, Wu Dai's fashion taste is not authentic. Third, it is generally similar. So each word can be worth five dollars. Stone-like, worth about five dollars. If you add three pieces, it is * * * 28. "
As soon as the words were finished, the shopkeeper bowed his head and walked to the back room.
Well, it's time to talk about Wei.
A few days ago, I had to deal with Indian debt. Due to the limitation of financial ability and the appreciation level of the recipient is not very high, I went to visit the Confucius Temple in Nanjing. Turn a big circle, a dozen lettering people are very young. Only a little older than one or two years old, I look at its seal, pursuing strength and simplicity, cherishing roughness and looking ferocious. Ask the price, it's not low. But after another big turn, I walked into the temple behind the East City and the West City, saw a "Tongsheng Printing Factory", hesitated for a while and went in.
Wei Tong won, from Jinling. About forty, a pair of rimless glasses, quiet appearance. There are many sculptors in Nanjing Confucius Temple, and Wei Nai is one of them. Wei is not much better. He specializes in making stones, teapots and handicrafts, setting up a small booth at the door to carve seals for Chinese and foreign tourists, and his knife department runs concurrently. Wei specializes in printing. The pavement is decent, and a signboard is set up at the door, which reads "Member of Jiangsu Calligraphers Association", which is not exempt from customs and is conducive to attracting customers. There are more than a dozen picture frames in the inner ring room of the store, all of which are embedded with the words "Tong Sheng seal cutting". If you look carefully, you will know that it was written by Han Tianheng and others. Looking down at the samples, there are several kinds of iron wire seals, such as Yuan Zhuwen, Manchu and Han official seals, all of which are not bad. The whole Confucius Temple has been turned down, but it can be said that it stands out from the crowd.
The old man is a man who always wants to spend a little money on fine products. He never believes in signboards because many "calligraphers" are too flattering. Ask the price first after entering the door and answer "twenty words." I don't know why, the expression is a little cold, and there is no smiling face made by ordinary businessmen. I think Longge is not low in Confucius Temple, but the control sample is also worth it.
I first took out an ordinary Shoushan stone: "Two words, Yuan Zhuwen." Then added, "Could you please write a sample draft and have a look? Don't be dissatisfied, okay? "
Wei looked at me and said nothing, but immediately took a piece of paper and made a draft.
After looking at it carefully, I thought it was ok, so I said, "Please take a snack. When you are satisfied, engrave a few squares. "
"Sit down for a while. I'll be ready in a minute."
I quickly said, "Don't worry. Come and get it next week. Don't worry about snacks. If it's good, carve a few more squares. "
You can see it in a week. Not bad. Smooth lines, strong trend and flexibility. The strokes are meticulous, and the beginning, middle and end are reminiscent of Wu Rangzhi. Two words, one is right, the other is right, the other is static and the other is moving. The knot is tight on the top and loose on the bottom, with dense layout and clear organization. I think Wei understands Deng's "dense ventilation and sparse travel". Although there are still shortcomings, the price is here after all.
"Good lines and a sense of calligraphy." I gave a casual compliment.
"I worked hard when I was young." He answered calmly.
This is a fact. I believe that his seal is right in front of us. It can't be forged.
Next, several parties were carved one after another, including Zhu, Ming Zhang and San Zhang. One of the particularly hard stones requires the word "Zhangping" to be engraved. I am afraid I don't know it, so I deliberately left the glyph in the traditional Chinese characters.
A few days later, I checked the address book and suddenly found that "Zhang Ping" was "Zhang Ping". I immediately called Wei to change the word. Answer: "It has been engraved, but it can be engraved again."
Originally, I was responsible for the typo. This stone was bought in Zhangjiajie, which was very hard, but he promised to carve it for free. What a kind person.
After the talk, Wei showed me several published works. Big chapter, many characters, iron thread seal, fine Zhu Wen, fine lines, smooth, compact structure and tight layout. This kind of works need to carefully calculate the layout and design the composition. The position, shape and size of each word, as well as the concession, interpenetration and expansion between words, should be fully prepared before cutting. Painting one stroke at a time, especially as meticulous, careful and quiet as embroidery, is really time-consuming and laborious, and it is very difficult.
Out of the "Tongsheng Printing Factory", I turned my head and looked at the signboard of "Member of Jiangsu Calligraphers Association" at the door, and felt that Wei was qualified.
Wei certainly needs further improvement. I carved a few squares, but I'm not very satisfied. It is difficult to make a living by carving. This may be because we are hungry, so we can't throw away "failure" like seal engravers. This is the difference between the production of goods by seal cutting and the creation of works of art by seal carvers. We can't demand a lot of people, including Wei, to make a living by this. In addition, Wei Zhi's inscriptions on individual small seals are not standardized enough, which seems to indicate that knowledge still needs to be strengthened.
If you want to get a good seal without spending a lot of money, I think the "Tongsheng Yinfu" in the East and West City of Nanjing Confucius Temple is a place to go.