What is seal cutting? One hundred people may have one hundred answers. Common people say it is a stamp, the postman says it is a seal, artists say it is seal engraving, and children say it is a stone.
Warring States Ancient Seal]
Ancient Seal is the general name for pre-Qin seals. Most of the earliest seals we can see now are the ancient seals of the Warring States Period. Many of the characters in these ancient seals are still unknown to us. Most Zhuwen ancient seals are equipped with wide edges. The strokes of the seal are as thin as a hair, and they are all made of casting. Most of the ancient seals with white text are added with side bars or a vertical border in the middle, and the characters are cast or chiseled. The seal text of the official seal includes names such as "Sima" and "Situ", as well as various irregular shapes. The content is also engraved with auspicious words and vivid animal patterns.
[Qin Seal]
Qin Seal refers to the seal that was popular from the Warring States Period to the early Western Han Dynasty, and the text used is called Qin Zhuan. Judging from the calligraphy style, it is very similar to that of the Qin and Han Dynasties, Qin stone carvings and other writings, so it is easier to understand than the ancient writings of the Warring States Period. Qin seals are mostly chiseled in white, and often have the character "天" on the seal surface. They are mostly square. The size of official seals used by low-level officials is about half of the general square official seals. They are rectangular and have the character "日" in the pattern, which is called "half". Tongyin". Private seals are generally rectangular, and there are also round and oval forms. In addition to official names, names, and auspicious words, private seals also include mottos and idioms such as "respect for things", "thinking well", and "harmony with everyone".
[Han official seal]
Broadly speaking, it is the collective name for the official seals from the Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Compared with the Qin seal script, the seal is more neat, straight and square in structure, and has a powerful and elegant style. The handicraft industry was very developed at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, so the official seals of the Xinmang era ("Xin" was the name of Wang Mang's dynasty) were particularly exquisite and vivid. The seal art of the Han Dynasty reached its peak, and thus became a model for later generations of seal carvers to learn from.
Most of the official seals of the Han Dynasty were written in white, and they were all cast. There are only a few official seals that are urgently needed in the military and given to fraternal nations but are not cast, which will be introduced later.
[Han private seal]
Han private seal is a private seal of the Han Dynasty. It is the most numerous and richest type of ancient seals. Not only are the shapes different, both vermilion and white are available, but some are combined into one seal with vermilion and white, or are decorated with patterns such as four spirits, and then have multi-sided seals, overprints (mother and child seals), and hook seals. In addition to names, seals often also include auspicious words, place of origin, table characters, and auxiliary words such as "zhiyin", "private seal", and "xinyin". The seals are extremely diverse, fully demonstrating the ingenuity of the craftsmen of the Han Dynasty. . In the Han Dynasty, most of the private seals were written in white. In the Western Han Dynasty, chiseled seals were mainly used, while in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were both cast and chiseled seals.
[General Seal]
The General Seal is also one of the official seals of the Han Dynasty. These seals were often carved on the seal surface with a knife in a hurry during the march, so they were also called "Jijiuzhang". The general's seal has a unique style and full of natural interest, which has a great influence on later artistic styles. The seals used by generals in the Han Dynasty were generally not called "seals" but "zhang". This is a major feature of military seals.
[Han Jade Seal]
The jade seals of the Han Dynasty are very precious and rare among ancient seals. In ancient times, "pei jade" was also an elegant fashion for famous officials, noble officials and scholar-bureaucrats. Generally speaking, jade seals are well-made, with strict composition and round strokes. At first glance, the strokes are square and upright, but there is no sense of rigidity at all. Because jade is hard and not easily susceptible to cuts, a special seal cutting technique was developed, the so-called "cutting method" of "flat knife going straight down". And because jade is not easily corroded and damaged, the lower seal handed down from generation to generation can better retain its original appearance.
[Seals of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties]
The form and button system of the official and private seals of the Wei and Jin Dynasties were inherited from the Han Dynasty, but the casting is not as exquisite as the Han seals. The official seals passed down from generation to generation for brother nations have many words, are carved with a knife as if they were chisels, and the calligraphy style is relaxed and natural, thus becoming the representative of the seal cutting style of a period. There are not many seals handed down from various countries in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The size of the official seal is slightly larger, the characters are sloppily chiseled, and there is no cast seal on the official seal.
[Zhubai text seal]
The alternating vermilion and white text seal style is very ingenious in Chinese seals, and it is said to have originated from the Eastern Han Dynasty. Its methods are extremely diverse, and the position arrangement and number of characters of Zhubai characters can be flexibly changed without limitation. This is evident from the number of prints cited here.
The principle of Zhubai is roughly based on the number of strokes. Most Zhuwen has fewer strokes, while most Zhuwen has fewer strokes. The opposite is true for Baiwen, so as to achieve the harmonious effect of Zhurubai and Bairuzhu. This type of seal is mostly a private seal with stable workmanship. See used for official seal.
[Zimu Seal]
Zimu Seal, also known as "Xi Seal", originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty and became popular in the Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties. It is a combination of two or three large and small seals. of seal. If the belly of the human body is empty, one or two small seals can be placed appropriately to form the shape of a mother carrying a child. There are also those that incorporate two seals from one side (such as the "Guo Yi" seal in the right column) to form a set of three sides. The volume of one seal contains the use value of several seals, which shows the craftsmanship of ancient seal makers.
[Six-sided Seal]
There are few actual six-sided seals handed down from ancient times. This kind of "convex"-shaped seal has a hole in the nose of the seal, which can be worn on a belt. A small seal is made on the end of the nose. Together with the other five seals, it is called a six-sided seal. A typical style of six-sided seals handed down from ancient times is white text with margins. Each character is one line, dense at the top and sparse at the bottom. The vertical strokes of the seal are mostly long and drooping, and the ends are pointed and thin, like hanging needles, so it has the common name of "hanging needle seal script" . Although this style still has the advantages of stretching the brushstrokes and contrasting the density and density, it can easily become vulgar and is far inferior to the richness of the Han seal. Therefore, seal carvers have always only used it occasionally.
[Miao Seal Seal] (with Bird and Chong Script)
Miao Seal Seal and its similar bird worm script are both "artistic characters" of Han Dynasty seals. The former is bent and wrapped, ?The latter is based on the addition of fish-shaped bird heads and other decorations. This kind of writing was first seen on ancient weapons or musical instrument bells. Some of them were inlaid with gold wire according to the strokes of the writing, which has a unique style. Bird and insect calligraphy seals are only found in private seals, mostly in white.
[Mixed-shaped seal]
Among the seals since the Warring States Period, the mixed-shaped seal is also a very unique type. There is no fixed pattern for its style, and the size ranges from a few inches to a few minutes, with extremely rich variations. In addition to the square and circle length and width, there are also concave and convex seals, square, circle, and triangle combined seals, two-circle and three-circle beads, and three-leaf spread shapes. etc. Zhu Bai has them all, too numerous to mention. The mixed-shaped seal is only used for private seals because of its unique humor and different requirements for solemnity and calmness of official seals.
[Pattern Seal]
Pictures were printed from the Warring States Period to the Han and Wei dynasties, with the highest number in the Han Dynasty. Also known as Xiao-shaped seal or pictographic seal. Various forms, concise and vivid. In addition to figures, birds, animals, chariots, auspicious sheep, fish and wild geese, etc., the four spirits of auspicious sheep (dragon, tiger, bird, phoenix, turtle) are often used in seals. This kind of seals Also known as the "Four Spirits Seal"
[Idiom Seal]
Idiom Seal has been around since the Warring States Period, with more than a hundred kinds of mottos and idioms used, such as "Zhengxing" and "Zhengxing". The number of idioms in the idioms varies, starting from the first and second words, to as many as twenty. In addition to expressing auspiciousness, the idioms are also used for auspiciousness. It is used for burial of the deceased.
[Monogram seal]
Monogram seal is also called "Yuanzi". Most of them are rectangular, usually with regular script surnames engraved on the top and Pasiba script or monograms engraved on the bottom. In a practical sense, most of the seals in the past have the function of preventing fraud and forgery. It is no longer a kind of writing, only used as a personal mark), and it is naturally more difficult to imitate to prevent counterfeiting. Therefore, this kind of lettering was still used until the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
[Fengmu]
Sealing mud is also called "mud seal". It is not a seal, but a relic of ancient seals - a dry and hard mud ball stamped with ancient seals - a precious physical object that has been preserved because the original seal is inscribed in inscriptions. It became Yangwen on the clay, and its edge was clay, so it formed a wide border with varying widths. The use of clay seals started from the Warring States Period to the Han and Wei Dynasties. After the Jin Dynasty, paper and silk gradually replaced the correspondence between bamboo and wood slips. It was possible not to use sealing clay. Later seal carvers learned from these precious sealing clay rubbings and used them to make seals, thereby expanding the scope of basic training and creation of seal cutting art.
[Button [Made]
Most of the ancient seals had buttons, so that the buttons were perforated and tied with ribbons. This was the ancient way of "wearing seals". Since the Han Dynasty, turtles, camels, and seals were used. Horses and other seals are used to distinguish the emperor and officials.
For example, the use of turtle buttons, camel buttons, and snake buttons in high-level official history were common buttons used in official seals awarded to brothers and ethnic groups during the Han, Wei, and Jin Dynasties. There are many forms of button making in the past dynasties, among which altar buttons, nose buttons, and double bucket buttons are the most common. Some of the button making are listed on the right for a clear view.
[Official seals since the Sui and Tang Dynasties]
In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the official seals began to enlarge. With the widespread use of paper, Zhu Wen gradually replaced Bai Wen. Many official seals began to have year numbers chiselled on their backs. In terms of text, Sui Dynasty seals mostly used small seals, and began to use the curved "nine-fold script" to seal (the ancient "nine" is the ultimate number, so it has this name. It does not necessarily have to be nine-fold. It can be complicated or simplified according to the strokes. changes) to fill the printed surface. In the Tang and Song dynasties, official script began to be used in official seals. In the Qing Dynasty, official seals were printed in Manchu. Both Chinese and Chinese characters were used and engraved in one seal. The official seals left by the peasant regimes of the Ming and Qing dynasties are also revolutionary cultural relics worthy of our cherishment.
[Yuanzhu Seal of Song and Yuan Dynasties]
Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, paper and silk gradually replaced bamboo and wood slips. In its heyday, the Yuan Dynasty, seal writing by literati, and the seals engraved by printers integrated poetry, calligraphy and painting into one, which played a bright dotting role and was loved by calligraphy and painting. At this stage, Zhao Mengfu, a calligrapher and painter at the beginning of the Song Dynasty, first advocated the art of seal cutting. Due to the influence of Li Yangbing's seal writing in calligraphy, the seal writing style was smooth and round, resulting in a unique style of seal - " The "Yuanzhu Wen" seal was adopted by later seal carvers.
[Seal of the characters of the brother nations]
Under the influence of the Han culture, the brother nations since the Song Dynasty have created their own characters based on Chinese calligraphy and imitated their characters. The seal script of Chinese characters is used for official seals and is rarely passed down. The seal scripts seen include Jin Guo (Jurchen) script, Yuan Dynasty Basiba script and Xixia script. Many of the characters are not yet recognized.
[Jin-style seal]
In Chinese calligraphy, seal script has become the main body of seal art due to its strong decorativeness and continues to this day. However, after the Qin and Han Dynasties, with the evolution of calligraphy styles, seal script was no longer the only calligraphy used for seals. In addition to the regular script seals of the Tang and Song dynasties and the monograms of the Yuan Dynasty, there was a precedent for the official script to be incorporated into seals in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Seal carvers since the Qing Dynasty have also tried to use modern styles (Li, Kai, Xingcao) to seal seals, and there are many excellent works among them. From this, we realize that the embodiment of seal art is not limited to the use of a certain calligraphy style. The key lies in the high-level application ability of composition, calligraphy, and knife skills.
[Collection Seals, Zhaiguan Seals, Xian Seals]
Seals developed to the Tang and Song dynasties, and became increasingly important as a branch of art appreciation. Special imprints for collection, appreciation, and revision began to appear. There are many types of seals in calligraphy and painting collections. "Zhaiguan Seal" is a seal carved with the elegant names of literati's study rooms and residences, such as "lou, pavilion, pavilion, nest, courtyard, studio, pavilion, hall" to name a few. In fact, many are in name only (Wen Zhengming said However, most of his bookstores are built on seals), which is nothing more than an expression of intellectuals' thoughts and spirits. Xianzhang originated from ancient auspicious seals. These works with poems, idioms, famous sayings, and proverbs have further developed seal cutting from a simple practical art of engraving official positions and names in the past to an independent appreciation art with literary meanings. , complementing poetry, calligraphy and painting.