About the same time that printmaking reached its peak, China traditional seal cutting also entered a new realm. Huizhou people have made great contributions to opening up a new realm and developed into an art school that plays an important role in the seal cutting stage, and is known as the "Huizhou School" internationally. It should be noted that Huizhou school is a broad concept here, including several small schools that have appeared in the course of historical development.
He Zhen is the originator of Huizhou seal cutting. He is from Wuyuan and has lived in Nanjing for a long time. He has a generous personality, traveled all over the frontier and enjoyed the vast scenery in the north. Probably because of this experience, he applied the principle of marching to the management of India and created a new generation of wind. In He Zhen's view, seal cutting is not an amateur skill of literati, but a very solemn skill. It was under the guidance of this earnest attitude that he carefully studied the structural principle of Chinese characters and put forward the principle of seal cutting based on the Six Books, which effectively promoted the return of traditional seal cutting to China printing. He learns from the past, but not from the past. He managed printing in a simple way and washed the altar of printing, which was praised as "the best in the world" by later generations.
He Zhen rose suddenly after the printing altar, and his followers were once extremely numerous. Famous ones are Jin Guangxian, Wu Zhong, Hu, Cheng Yuan, etc. Su Xuan is a native of Shexian County, and his seal cutting is not entirely from what. I once taught in Suzhou Wenpeng's home (Wenpeng, the eldest son of the famous painter Wen Zhiming, was very good at seal cutting and was influenced by him), because I had the opportunity to learn seal cutting from Wenpeng. Later, I went to Qin and Han Dynasties to see India, which was unique. It can be said that most of his seal cutting belongs to his own creation, only absorbing some styles of Wen Peng and He Zhen. At that time, people commented on his writing style, what is "three legs". Because of its name Surabaya, later generations also called its seal learning "Surabaya School". He is the author of four volumes of Su Pu. Guangjin was originally from Xiuning. Although he studied under He Zhen, he did not stick to He Zhen. He once specialized in Chinese and Hindi and had rich experience. He is not only a practitioner of seal cutting, but also makes great efforts to study the theory of seal cutting, discussing the methods of cutting, writing and composition, and is the author of Selected Prints of Jinyifu. Wuzhong, a native of Shexian County, studied with He Zhen for more than 30 years and adhered to the tradition of being a teacher by example. He can be said to be the most loyal follower of He Zhen. He wrote Selected Prints of Hongqi Pavilion. Wu Jiong, who is also a native of Shexian County, won the essence of He Zhen's seal cutting and was highly praised by the famous painter Dong Qichang, whose book Cai Xiaoju Pu Yin. Hu is a native of Xiuning and now lives in Nanjing. He Zhen, a master of seal cutting, has always followed his own ideas. Although he can't catch up with He Zhen in boldness, he can win by work. His style was once all the rage, including the first set of prints and the second set of Hu Shi's seal cutting. Cheng Yuan is a native of Shexian County, and he studied under He Zhen. His fine Zhu, all white, rotten copper, carved jade and tortuous articles are all wonderful. His son Cheng Pu is also good at seal cutting, and He Zhen's seal cutting method is very exquisite.
When He Zhen's painting style dominated the printing altar, some Huizhou people were able to take on a new look and greatly enriched seal cutting. Among them, Crown and Zhu Jian are particularly worth mentioning. Grace Wai Wong, a native of Shexian County who lives in Loudong, makes good use of punching knives when printing, which gives people an unpretentious feeling. His seal cutting has smooth layout, meticulous composition, imitation of Chinese and Indian, and both form and spirit, which makes him a direct pioneer in the pursuit of Chinese law in Ming Dynasty. What he did was a double-edged sword and official script, which showed superb skills. He was called "Lou Dongpai", and some people called him "Yangzhou School" together with Shen Shihe and Lin Hao. Zhu Jian, a native of Xiuning, paid great attention to brushwork and used knife to carve stones, reaching a high artistic level. He also made great efforts to study the theory of seal cutting, and put forward pertinent views on the gains and losses of previous seal cutting and how to learn from it on the basis of extensive search. He felt that there were many false fallacies in the printed edition of predecessors, and spent fourteen years writing a book "Printed Edition", which made a detailed discussion on textual research, composition discussion, authenticity identification and fallacy correction. In addition, there are "Ge Jun Tibetan Seal" and "Silence", which provide high-level reference books for seal script learners. His own seal is also compiled as "Xiuneng Printing Spectrum".
He Zhen rose from the altar and learned like a cloud after a while. Many people get shapes but don't understand them, which makes seal cutting lose its artistic charm. Therefore, Cheng Sui and Jiang of Shexian county began to correct their mistakes and promote the development of seal cutting. Cheng Sui lived in Nanjing first, and moved to Yangzhou after his death in Ming Dynasty. He is good at epigraphy, rich in books, and has a high attainments in poetry and painting. He managed to print Zhu Wenshan with big seal script. Bai Wenjing studied Chinese law, with rigorous and dignified composition, bold and bold font and rich brushwork. Although he made a systematic study of He Zhen's seal cutting, and used it for reference, he was unique in the field of seal cutting, and there were many examples in later generations. Among his fellow villagers, Ba Weizu, Wang Zhaokui, Hu Tang, Huang Lu, Huang Zongduo, Tang Gui, Cheng Huanlun, Cheng Jinbo, Jiang Deliang and others learned from him. Among them, Baweizu, Hutang and Jiang Zhaosou are the most famous. People often refer to these three people together with Cheng Xiang as "the fourth middle school student", and some call them "the study of middle school". Baweizu has been immersed in the ancient seals of Qin and Han dynasties for a long time, and has been copied into two volumes of Imitation of Sixiangtang and one volume of Hundred Years of Printing. He carefully studied and copied, and got the essence of China seal. His composition is accurate, his calligraphy is elegant and graceful, and he has entered the realm of God. Hu Tang is Baweizu's nephew, handed down by Baweizu himself. He has a unique understanding of Qin Xi's Han and India. Every time he treats a seal, he should be elegant and refined, graceful and beautiful, and his strangeness has entered the natural realm. Wang Zhaokui's seal cutting has existed since ancient times and won the essence of Chinese and Indian seal.
By the way, Deng, the founder of Huizhou seal cutting, was also deeply influenced by Cheng Ai. Deng, a native of Huaining, is good at calligraphy. He entered the seal in the form of Xiao Zhuan, Sangong Mountain Monument and Zen Mountain Monument. He is vigorous, solemn, fluent and fresh, which not only absorbed the essence of the seal-cutting school in the Sui Dynasty, but also changed the atmosphere of using the seal-cutting method in the Qin and Han Dynasties at that time, forming a unique art school, known as the "Deng School" in the world. His successors are Wu Xizai and Xu Sangeng, because they are both from Anhui.
Jiang, who tried to correct the abuse of He Zhen's late learning with Cheng Sui, is a strong and skillful sculptor. He naturally takes advantage of the situation with a knife and has no delay, which is a must. Unfortunately, jade is hard and difficult to operate, and there are few ginger with extraordinary arm strength in the world, which makes it difficult to spread Juexue.
His fashion is Wujin, Xiuning, good at seal cutting and official script, and good at management printing. He first lived in Changshu, Jiangsu, and then moved to Songjiang. His seal cutting methods are He Zhen and Su, but he is not limited by Huizhou school, which also reflects his efforts to correct He Zhen's drift.
Under the influence of these famous seal engravers, it was common practice to manage printing in Shexian county for a while, and it was not uncommon for a few people to come out. Such as Xiang, Xiang Genjiang, Xiang Daowei, Xiang Suide, etc. are all good at wonderful printing and painting, and are known as the "four wonders of the South River". Among them, Hunan is the most famous, including Pu Yin's Yizhai and Huangshan's.
Until the end of Qing Dynasty, there were still many Huizhou people who were good at printing, especially Huang Shiling. Huang Shiling, a native of Yixian, is good at calligraphy and painting. He studied Wu Xizai at the beginning of seal cutting. Later, he adopted the method of China seal and printed it with bronze inscriptions. He is ingenious in the handling of layout density, often striking a balance in extreme danger, revealing his transcendental interest in simplicity and vigorous knife cutting, which is unprecedented. He found a new way outside Zhejiang School and Huizhou School, which opened up a new world for the development of seal cutting.