Carving Seals

Carving seal is the product of the Class Society( 奴隶制 ).

Most famous and successful seal masters realized the importance to learn from the ancient experience. However, this is just one method but it does not mean the result or aim.

USE

1. Hand- makers recorded their names on the artifacts that they made.

2. To stand for the names of artifacts.

3.The printed letters on the gold coins.

4.Burial objects .( 陪葬品 )

5. From Song Dynasty, artists usually use seals instead of their signatures, includes idioms, lucky words, mottoes, ancient names and so on.

6.Using as the ornamentation because there are buttons at the back of the seals .

7.Ironing the horses as making records on them .( 烙马印 )

several important types of seals

1. The seals in Qin Dynasty

In Qin Dynasty,the text being put in the form like a Chinese word “ 田” .

2.Han Dynasty

This is the most important one in the history of seals.Normally four words,a crossing in the middle .

3.Seals made in mud （封泥）

They are used to seal the parcels in ancient. People avoid their parcels being opened or moved by someone else, they would use some mud to seal the parcels and then print their seals on them.

4.Portrait Seals

Printed with characters, buildings, some animals and other patterns .

5.Seals with birds and insects

The letters on such seals are decorated by the patterns of birds and insects.

武意

 

Materials

There are many kinds of seal materials, such as jades （玉） , metals, silvers, bronze （铜） , leads （铅） , crystals （水晶） , pottery mud, etc. The most valuable is jade. The second is metal. The third is silver.

Normal officials usually use bronze( 铜 ) for seals, so it is very common to see the bronze seals which are excavated so far.

Now the most famous one are“ Qingtian Stone”,“ Shoushan Stone”, and “Changhua Stone”.

Some seal- cutting masters

• Zhao Mengfu (1254- 1322)

He usually just wrote the letters and then let other to make into seals. He uses the pure Xiaozhuan, most of which are red character.

• Wen Peng (1498- 1573)

He is the first artist who is famous for seal- cutting.

• Deng Shiru (1743- 1805)

He uses the active and vivid postures into the seal, especially into Red Seal.

• Wu Xizai (1799- 1870)

He is the follower of Deng ShiRu. Based on Deng‘ s style, he also had some innovation and formed his typical style, especially the easy and comfortable ambit.

一日之迹 画梅乞米

• Zhao Zhiqian ( 1799- 1870)

He is in the same period as Wu Xizai. However, because of their different characters, the styles of their seals are also different. Wu is honest and straight, while Zhao is very boastful of his talent.

为五斗米折腰

• Huang Shiling (1850-1908)

He uses Jin character in seals.

• Wu Changshuo ( 1844- 1927)

Most seal masters are good at Zhuanshu, in which Wu Changshuo is very outstanding. His works, Shi Gu Wen, is one of the typical and great works. His seal is characterized of the deep meaning and the sureness of touch. He let the seal reach another new peak since 600 years.

缶者 鲜鲜霜中菊

Mr.GuoMoruo said that the ancient arts are enduring and unreachable, however, can we say that all the ancient things are much better nowadays things just on base of that idea? of course we can not. That would be stupid to have such ideas.

抗震救灾

Beijing 2008

That is all.Thank you.