Seal cutting has gone through more than ten dynasties in its long history of more than 3,700 years since its origin. In this long-term development process, the art of seal cutting has experienced two highly developed historical stages.
One is the Warring States, Qin, Han, Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties periods. The seal cutting materials during this period were mainly jade, gold, teeth, horns, etc. It is called the "ancient seal cutting art period", and its seal cutting art characteristics are mainly divided by era. When seal cutting developed into the Tang, Song, and Yuan dynasties, it was in a period of decline. During this period, due to the use of regular script instead of seal script and the fundamental separation of official seals and private seals, the art of seal cutting went into decline. This situation took a turn for the better at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. The painter Wang Mian discovered that flower milkstone could be used for sealing, making the stone an ideal material for sealing. In the Ming Dynasty, the art of seal cutting entered a period of revival.
Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, seal cutting has ushered in its second peak of development. Its seal cutting art is mainly characterized by the diversity of schools. During this period, Wen Peng and He Zhen played a major role in the creation of the seal cutting art genre. Wen Peng is the son of Wen Zhengming. It was by chance that he discovered that "light stone" frozen stone can be used as a sealing material. After his advocacy, stone was widely used. In the following period, various schools of seal cutting art emerged, including Cheng Sui, Ding Jing, Deng Shiru, Huang Mufu, Zhao Zhiqian, Wu Rangzhi and other seal cutting artists. For a time, seal cutting art showed a prosperous scene.
Until the modern seal-cutting masters Wu Changshuo and Qi Baishi, a complete history of Chinese seal-cutting was formed. The art of seal cutting is a perfect combination of calligraphy, composition and knife skills. In one seal, there are both majestic and elegant calligraphy strokes, beautiful and pleasing painting composition, and the vivid carving charm of knife skills. It can be said that "there are thousands of things in a small space".
Before we take a closer look, we must first clarify the definition of seal cutting. There are two types of seal cutting: broad sense and narrow sense. The word "Zhuan" in seal carving is written as "瑑" in ancient times. From jade (the annotation of Shuowen explains: "Gui Bi raises a sign, it is also a 瑑."), and all the concave and convex patterns carved on jade and stone are called "瑑". Later, bamboo and silk became a popular writing tool, so the shape of the seal characters was changed from "jade" to bamboo.
The origin of seal cutting is very early. According to "Han Shu. "The Records of Sacrifice" records: "Since the Five Emperors, there have been written deeds. As for the Three Kings, sculptures have become vulgar, fraud has gradually emerged, and seals have begun to be used to detect treachery."
As far back as the Yin and Shang Dynasties more than 3,700 years ago, the art of lettering became popular. However, there is no original text on the seal, only the mark symbolizing the blood group, which is attached to the bronzes or flags of the same period. Although it is a symbol, it does have a certain pronunciation. In the Zhou Dynasty, the "Zhou Seal" made mainly of bronze became popular. There are various sizes and shapes, generally divided into two types: white text and Zhu text. The Qin Dynasty was the period when Chinese writing evolved from "Zhen script" to seal script. The forms of seals were also more extensive, with round and vigorous seals and tall and straight writing styles.
The seal reached its peak in the Han Dynasty and was known as Han Seal in history. The font evolved from Xiaozhuan to "Miao Seal". The seal shape and sealing buttons of Han Dynasty seals are also very exquisite. Xi Gang, one of the eight families in Xiling, once said: "The seals are from the Han Dynasty, just like the poems and essays are from the Tang Dynasty, and the characters are from the Jin Dynasty." During the Tang and Song Dynasties, due to the preferences of literati, although the seal system was changed, seal script was still used for sealing. It was not until the Ming and Qing dynasties that seal-cutting artists emerged in large numbers. Seal-cutting became an art form based on seal script, using carving methods to express density, separation and coupling in the surface. Seal-cutting then changed from engraving and inscription in a broad sense to sealing in a narrow sense. Lift.