Chinese seal cutting is an art that combines calligraphy (mainly seal script) and engraving (including chiseling and casting) to make seals. Counting from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, seal cutting has a history of nearly 500 years. The seal cutting genre of the Ming and Qing Dynasties was developed from ancient seals. Ancient seals, with their unique style and high artistry, laid an excellent foundation for the art of seal cutting. Therefore, the history of seal cutting art can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period (770 BC to 221 BC) more than 2,000 years ago.
The Development of Seal Engraving Art The seals of the Pre-Qin, Qin and Han dynasties were used as tokens of power and evidence for people in ancient times to interact with each other. In addition, seals such as auspicious language seals, Xiao-shaped seals, and Huang Shen Yue seals also reflect ancient social life customs and people's ideologies.
Ancient Seal "Yichang Yi Sheng Lu Zhi"
The earliest ancient seal is the ancient seal. Most of the ancient seals belong to the Warring States Period, and there are also relics from the Spring and Autumn Period. Ancient seals were divided into official and private categories. At that time, everyone was called a seal regardless of their superiority or inferiority. Before the Qin Dynasty, it was written as "□" or "□". Seals are divided into two types: Zhuwen (with raised characters, also called Yangwen) and Baiwen (with concave characters, also called Yinwen). The shapes and sizes of ancient seals vary, including rectangular, square
Round and other irregular shapes. The content includes official position, name, auspicious words and zodiac patterns, etc. The ancient seals are made with exquisite craftsmanship, either chiseled or cast; the text of the seals is exquisite and the composition is vivid. Some Zhu Wenxi seals have broad sidebars, while white Wenxi seals often have borders. There is also an ancient seal with alternating red and white text that is also very unique, which shows that the production of seals at that time had become mature. Three objects similar to ancient seals have been found in the Yin Ruins in Anyang, Henan. Some people infer that the origin of ancient seals is in the Shang Dynasty, but further research is needed. In the Qin Dynasty, the emperor's seal was called a seal, while ordinary people's seals were called seals. The Qin seal script is one of the eight styles of Qin script, which is similar to the small seal script used in the Qin Dynasty. The Qin seal is solemn and beautiful. The square official seal is added with the characters "口" and "田", and the rectangular seal (also known as the semi-pass seal) is added with the character "日". These are the distinctive features of the Qin seal. . In addition to official seals and private seals, Qin's seals also included seals with idioms, which was the first of its kind in later generations.
The Qin Dynasty's "Yi Ye Xiang Seal"
The Han Dynasty was a period of unprecedented splendid development of seals. In the Han Dynasty, except for the emperor's seal, which was still called a seal, all the others were called seals. Some official seals are called seals or seals, and some private seals are called letter seals or seals. The word seal commonly used today comes from this. Han seals are richer in both content and form than before, and private seals are the most diverse. Han Dynasty seals are printed in Miao seal style. This type of font is related to the rise of official script in the Han Dynasty. It has a simplified structure and straight and straight strokes. Among the Han seals, there are also some that are printed with bird and insect scripts, which are highly decorative and are an ancient art font. There are two types of Han seals: cast and chiseled. Most of the seals in the Western Han Dynasty were cast, among which the seals from the Xinmang period at the end of the Western Han Dynasty were the most exquisite. The most distinctive seals of the Eastern Han Dynasty were chiseled seals. Due to the social turmoil and wars at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, officials and generals were often transferred or killed in battle, resulting in frequent worship. Seals often had no time to cast, so they were carved on the pre-prepared seal blank in a hurry. It is made, and the printed text is mostly unmodified. The Han Dynasty's seals were solemn and majestic, while the chiseled seals were strong and powerful. These two completely different styles had a great influence and inspiration on later generations of seal cutting.
"Guan Quan Cheng" (official seal) of the Han Dynasty
"Sun Qian's Seal" (private seal) of the Han Dynasty
There was also a kind of seal that appeared in ancient times. Seal mud, also known as mud seal. When the sealing mud was first discovered, it was mistaken for a seal, but it was actually the seal left behind when the seal was used. Before the invention of paper, the ancients mostly wrote official documents, accounts, letters and other contents on slips. During the delivery and exchange of slips, in order to strictly maintain confidentiality and prevent forgery, the knots of the slips were added. Put some soft clay on it and seal it with a seal. This is what is called sealing. This method was also used to seal some items in ancient times. Due to the extrusion of the seal on the mud, the sealing mud formed a wide edge and a set edge. After the white seal was sealed on the mud, it would have a special effect of turning "white" into "zhu" and an ancient and thick artistic feature.
The Han Dynasty's "Yi Wu" (Bird and Insect Book Seal)
The Han Dynasty's "Qi Yushi Dafu" (Sealing Mu)
The seals of the Three Kingdoms, Two Jins, Southern and Northern Dynasties, basically The upper part follows the shape of the Han seal. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, paper was widely used, so new sealing methods emerged, and the method of sealing with mud began to be abolished. Instead, seals were stamped with ink pads mixed with cinnabar. This is the so-called moist vermilion system. The official seals from the Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties to the Song and Yuan Dynasties increased in size and favored Zhu inscriptions.
The seal song
curves and wraps around to fill the gaps in the seal surface. In the Song Dynasty, it developed into nine-fold seal script and lost the beauty of traditional seal script.
The Yuan Dynasty's "Vice-General's Seal" (Nine-fold Inscription)
During the Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, calligraphy and painting had made great progress. Some people wanted to collect calligraphy and painting for the purpose It gradually became a trend for calligraphers and calligraphers to put seals on their works. As a result, collection seals, Zhaiguan seals and Xianwen seals became popular. This was an important factor in the development of practical seals into the art of seal cutting. Stamping calligraphy and painting works with bright red and eye-catching seals allows the calligraphy and painting works to be highlighted. The seals are organically integrated with the calligraphy and painting, and the seals become objects for people to appreciate at the same time, which is called inscriptions and stone calligraphy and painting. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, people gradually paid more attention to seals, and there were scholars, calligraphers and painters who were able to do this. In addition, ancient seals are recorded in "History of Xuanhe Seals" written by Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, "Collection of Ancient Seals" by Yang Keyi, and "Collection of Ancient Seals in Xiaotang" by Wang Qiu. Wu Qiu Yan of the Yuan Dynasty Written in China
The earliest seal theory work "Xue Gu Pian". The calligrapher and painter Zhao Meng is famous for his ability to carve round inscriptions. Many private seals of the Song and Yuan Dynasties are also very artistic, and some are made by literati. The Zhuji seals of the Song Dynasty and the monogram seals of the Yuan Dynasty are also distinctive. They have been printed in official script and regular script. They are the styles of seal materials and methods that later generations of seal carvers valued.
The material texture of ancient seals was mostly metal and jade. Although these printing materials have the advantage of wearing very slowly and lasting a long time, due to their high hardness and toughness, the production of ancient seals must be done by specialized craftsmen. It is said that Wang Mian, a painter in the late Yuan Dynasty, was the first to use flower milkstone to engrave. As early as in ancient seals, stone seals were found, and in the private seals of the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were also stone seals. Flower milkstone is easy to engrave. Since Wang Mian adopted it, it has opened up a new world for literati and artists to engrave with knives. Wen Peng of the Ming Dynasty also recorded the use of lamplight stones (that is, frozen stones) to engrave records. The widespread use of stone printing materials provides excellent material conditions for the development of seal cutting art.
The formation of the seal cutting school In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, seals had developed into a unique seal cutting art. It has developed from a practical product and an accessory to the art of calligraphy and painting to an independent art. The word seal cutting originally meant a metaphor for writing and careful writing. "Seal script refers to seal script, and carving refers to carving articles." Han Yangxiong's "Fayan" also said that "a boy carves insects to carve seal scripts," and "a strong man does not do it." " also refers to the painstaking efforts in carving seals and sentences when writing poems and poems, but later became the name of the art of seal engraving. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were many masters and schools of seal cutting art. Schools of seal cutting are generally named after the seal carver's place of origin, surname, teacher-instructor relationship, and area of ??activity. In the nearly 500 years from the middle of the Ming Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, various styles and schools emerged, thus pushing the ancient Chinese seal cutting art into another period of prosperity. Wen Peng of the Ming Dynasty was the eldest son of calligrapher and painter Wen Zhengming. His poetry, calligraphy and painting were passed down from his family, and he was especially famous for his seal cutting. Later seal carvers regarded him as the ancestor of seal cutting. Wen Peng made great efforts to restore the tradition of Han seals. His round bead seals, combined with small seal scripts, are beautiful, elegant and most distinctive; his knife skills are bright and free; and his composition arrangements are also quite ingenious. His idea of ??"six books as the criterion" is still the rule followed by seal carvers to this day. Thanks to Wen Peng's advocacy, the art of seal cutting became "extremely popular and popular for a while." Wenpeng's faction was called the Wumen Sect. Among the seal carvers of the Wu School, there are Gui Changshi, Li Liufang, Chen Wanyan, Gu Ling, Gu Xin and others. He Zhen, who is as famous as Wen Peng, studied under Wen Peng in his early years, and later turned to the seals of the Qin and Han Dynasties, creating a variety of art forms in seal cutting. He is known as the "master" who "learns from the ancient but not the ancient". It has a great influence on future generations. He Zhen's sect was called the Hui sect. Seal carvers belonging to this school include Liang Zhong, Wu Zhong, Cheng Pu, Jin Guangxian, Hu Zhengyan and others. In the Ming Dynasty, Su Xuan, Gan □, Zhu Jian, Wang Guan and others were also able to establish their own schools of thought.
Ming Dynasty? Wen Peng: "Leaning on the Pine and Playing with Cranes after Playing the Qin"
Ming Dynasty? He Zhen: "Listening to the Oriole Deep"
Epigraphy was popular in the Qing Dynasty , as well as the large number of epigraphic cultural relics unearthed in the past dynasties, many scholars have devoted themselves to the collection, research, writing and dissemination of these cultural relics and ancient texts, thus expanding the horizons of seal carvers. The number of seal cutting schools in the Qing Dynasty was unprecedented. In the early Qing Dynasty, Cheng Sui was the most outstanding. His seal cutting was able to "change the old habits of Wen (Peng) and He (Zhen)" and was full of creativity. His
Bai Wen seal master Fa Han seal is thick and concise; Zhu Wen seal likes to use large seal script, which is bizarre and scattered, laying the foundation of the Anhui School.
In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the art of seal cutting entered a period of prosperity. The seal cuttings of Gao Fenghan, Wang Shishen, Ba Weizu, Dong Xun, Hu Tang and others were all innovative and full of personality. Among them, Ding Jing and Deng Shiru had the greatest influence and greatest achievements. Ding Jing's seal cutting is directly based on the Ming Dynasty people, mainly Zhu Jian
, and also takes the Han seal as its ancestor. However, he does not aim to imitate the ancient times, but draws nutrients from many aspects to nurture changes and borrow them. From ancient times to the present, he became the founder of Zhejiang School. This school was inherited and developed by eight successors, including Jiang Ren, Huang Yi, Xi Gang, Chen Yuzhong, Chen Hongshou, Zhao Zhichen and Qian Song, and became the most influential seal cutting school in the Qing Dynasty. These eight seal carvers are also called the Eight Masters of Xiling. Among them, Qian Song was able to break through the barriers of the Zhejiang School. He often came up with new ideas in composition, and his knife skills were sharp and sharp, full of three-dimensionality, and he achieved the greatest success. Since Ding Jing, Deng Shiru has been a pioneer in the development history of seal cutting art. He is good at Zhen, Cao, Li and Seal script. His seal cutting followed the Hui School in the early days and was influenced by Cheng Sui. He initially used small seals to enter the seal, and later incorporated stone drum inscriptions, Han stele seal foreheads and other writing styles, which opened up new ways for sealing outside the seal. Because Deng Shiru was from Anhui, his seal cutting was called the Wan School, also known as the Deng School. Many seal carvers in the late Qing Dynasty were influenced by it, such as Wu Xizai, Xu Sangeng, Huang Shiling, etc. Among them, Wu Xizai is the one who best inherits the mantle of Deng School. His seal cutting and knife skills make the transformation vivid and free, fully expressing the meaning of the brush, and he has the skill of handling the knife as well as the pen; his seal is graceful and graceful. Later, many people who learned from Deng Shiru started with Wu Xizai's seal cutting. In the late Qing Dynasty, seal cutting was mostly within the two schools of Zhejiang and Anhui, with no new ideas. In addition, although the seal cutting skills of Weng Danian, Wang Shijing, Xulun and others are very deep, they blindly follow the Qin and Han Dynasties and ultimately lack creativity. Only a few talented seal carvers such as Zhao Zhiqian, Hu □, Wu Changshuo and Huang Shiling used their high degree of creativity to make the seal world in the late Qing Dynasty appear vibrant again. Zhao Zhiqian had profound attainments in calligraphy and painting, and had experience in seal cutting from Zhejiang and Anhui schools. He not only drew on the seals of the Qin and Han Dynasties, but also incorporated inscriptions on tablets into the seals, forming various styles of his seal cutting. His white seals are dignified, and his red seals are beautiful and colorful, showing the interest of pen and ink between the sword and stone. The border patterns he carved were also unique, breaking through the stereotypes of his predecessors and finally establishing the status of the Zhao School. Wu Changshuo was a giant in the art world in the late Qing Dynasty. He had profound attainments in poetry, calligraphy, painting and seals. He started his seal cutting from Zhejiang and Anhui schools, and also adopted the methods of Deng Shiru and Wu Xizai. Later, he devoted himself to Qin and Han seals, seals, and ancient pottery inscriptions, integrating the style of stone drum inscriptions into the seals. He is good at cutting hard with a blunt knife, and his knife skills can be used for punching and cutting. In his seal cutting, he embodies the beauty and interest in the vigorous and simple style. He is respected as the Wu School by later generations and has a great influence on the domestic and Japanese seal circles. There are many successors of this school, among which Zhao Shi and Chen Shizeng are the outstanding ones. Huang Shiling first learned seal cutting from Wu Xizai, and later turned to seals of the Qin and Han Dynasties. He especially likes to use bronze inscriptions for seals. The sealing techniques are quite ingenious and bizarre, which is very interesting. The knife skills are also vigorous and majestic, and the carvings are often not decorated or advocated. broken. His seal carvings were honest and simple, combining clumsiness over skill, and he became a sudden rise in the seal world in the late Qing Dynasty. Because he lived in Guangzhou for the longest time, he had the greatest influence on Lingnan seal carving masters. Some people call Huang Shiling's seal carving the Yishan School.
Qing Dynasty? Ding Jing: "The Heart of Ancient Hangzhou"
Qing Dynasty? Deng Shiru: "Jue Fei Zhu"
Qing Dynasty? Huang Shiling's "Wu" Collection of calligraphy, calligraphy and paintings by Yu Dan. Modern seal carvers continue to pioneer the development path of seal cutting art, draw on the excellent artistic traditions of the nation, break through the seal cutting standards of the Qin and Han Dynasties and the seal cutting schools of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and have the courage to innovate, constantly explore, and reveal A new page has opened for modern seal cutting art. The current accomplished seal carvers include Ding Ren, Wang □, Yi Xi, Wang Daxin, Qiao Zengxuan, Qian Shoutie, Zhao Shuru, Chen Banding, Shoushi Gong, Lai Chusheng, Fu Baoshi, etc., among which Qi Baishi has the greatest influence. He first studied Ding Jing and Huang Yi in seal cutting, and then followed Zhao Zhiqian and Han Dynasty seal cutting. He also incorporated calligraphy on Han and Wei steles such as "The Stele of Sacrifice to Sangong Mountain" and "The Stele of Tianfa God's Prophecy" into his seal cuttings. He used the concise single-sword technique and the charm of the "Jiji
Chapter" of the Han Dynasty to create a strange, ups and downs, dripping and vigorous Qi style.
Hope you are satisfied.