I. Overview of Ming Dynasty seal engraving
The practicality of seals before the Tang and Song dynasties was far greater than the need for aesthetics, although the literati of the Song Dynasty began to pay attention to the aesthetic pursuit of seals, but the transformation of seals from practical trustworthy objects to works of art as aesthetics was not completed during this period. Due to the discovery of seal stone, the literati of the Yuan Dynasty began to intervene in the process of creating seals. From Wu Qiuyan and Zhao Mengfu to Wang Guan, to the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, literati seal engraving increasingly occupied an important position. By the Ming Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu's Yuan Zhu Wen seal style was still the object of admiration by literati doctors. The late Ming Dynasty seal commentator Zhou Yingyan said in the "Seal Sayings" that "Zhu (Yunming) has 'Wuxia Aming' Zhu Wenyin, and there is rhyme in the air", under the painstaking management of several generations of Indians, the Ming Dynasty printing school became increasingly popular, and it was able to pass on the authentic teachings. The Ming people not only advocated the simple seal style of the Qin and Han Dynasties, but also followed the elegance of the Zhu Wenyin of the Yuan Dynasty, opening up a new face for seal carving. It should be said that seal carving to the Ming Dynasty was a major turning point.
Sign of the Father's Seal
Zheng Zhong
Wen Zheng Mingyin
If subdivided, seal carving did not really flourish until the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and the Wumen seal carving headed by Wen Zhengming played a huge role, Wen Zhengming's love for seals was far better than his teacher Shen Zhou, who once boasted that "my book house is more than the printing", and Zhou Yingyun "Wen Waited for the father and son to start the source of the seal". Judging from Wen Zhengming's seal carving works, the evaluation given to him by predecessors as "elegant and vulgar, clean and divine" is more pertinent. Huang Zigao of the Qing Dynasty's "Continuation of the Thirty-Five Moves" Yun "from the beginning of Zhao Oubo (Meng Fu) into the seal with a small seal, stop the cloud hall (referring to Wen Zhengming) and thus effect.". Its white seal is basically the scale of The Han Seal, with the atmosphere of Pu Mao, while the Zhu Wenyin is quite popular with Zhao Mengfu.
Nanjing Xieyuan
Tang Bohu
Ranked first in the Dragon and Tiger list The fireworks team was drunk for thousands of games
Tang Yin's private seal
Tang Yin, who was at the same time as Wen Zhengming, had his calligraphy and painting printed with "Tang Yin's private seal", "Tang Bohu", "Nanjing Xieyuan", "the first place in the dragon and tiger list, and a thousand drunks in the fireworks team", etc., which are extremely rich in printed content and Indian style. After Wen Zhengming and Tang Yin, many literati seal carvers appeared in Wumen, mainly Wen Peng and some of Wen Zhengming's students, such as Chen Daofu, Wang Suixiang, Xu Chu, etc., especially Wen Peng's influence was the greatest.
From seal engraving to the Ming Dynasty, both artistic practice and printing theory have made great progress, and this development is marked by the emergence of "genres". The five more representative schools of seal engraving are: the "Wumen Sect" founded by Wen Peng, whose printing style is pure and elegant, and its printing style is far from The Qin and Han Dynasties; the "Snow Fishing School" pioneered by He Zhen, which imitates the Han casting seal with the punching knife method, and is majestic and fierce; Su Xuan's "Surabaya School", which is also the master Of Wen Peng and He Zhen, is far away from han jin; Wang Guan's "Lou Dong School" has an elegant Yongzheng style; and Zhu Jian's "Xiuneng School" in the late Ming Dynasty formed a cang and vigorous printing style with a short knife crushing method.
II. The "Wumen Sect" Pioneered by Wen Peng
Wen's elegant style leads Wuzhong and even the national art scene. As far as seal carving is concerned, Wen Peng is regarded by posterity as "the founding father of literati seal carving". Wen Peng (1498-1573), also known as Shou Cheng, was a native of Changzhou (present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu), and the eldest son of Wen Zhengming. Wen Peng inherited the family study, gong poetry, also good at calligraphy and painting, especially good at seal carving, and called "Wen He" together with He Zhen. Zhou Yingyuan's "Yin Shuo" said that it was "Ke Shao Ji Qiu, between seal seals, Xingzhi or hand engraved, but more white text"; Wu Zhengyang's "Yin Ke" Self-Introduction said that his seal engraving can "directly follow the pulse of the Qin and Han Dynasties, and strive to trace the beginning". At first, Wen Peng's engraved multi-tooth seal was printed by the self-book, engraved by Jinling Li Wenfu. Later, in Nanjing's West Hongqiao, he accidentally found that the knife on the "light frozen stone" in Qingtian was more ideal, so he carved himself on the seal and formed a custom of holding the knife and carving the stone among the literati. Han Tianheng called this in the book "Chronology of Chinese Printing" "a sign that seal carving entered the Stone Seal Age from the Copper Seal Era". Wen Peng's artistic activities were mainly in the Jiajing and Longqing years, and he had carved many seals in his lifetime, but at that time, he had not yet adopted the form of seals to circulate them, so the seals we can see at present are limited. Although Gu's "Collection of Ancient Seals" had not yet been printed when Wen Peng was engaged in seal engraving practice, Wen Peng had contacts with the Xiang clan of Jiaxing and the Gu clan of Shanghai, and was able to play with a large number of ancient seal seals. Zhou Yingyan called Wen Peng's seal engraving "Bai Deng Qin Han, Zhu Pressure Song Yuan", which was highly evaluated. Wen Peng's Yuan Zhu Wen Yin took the seal specification, round and beautiful, and had a great influence on the creation of the Yuan Zhu Wen Yin in later generations. Qing Ren Guifu said in the "Thirty-five Moves Again" that "the wen's father and son seals are deeply rooted in the method of Zhao Wuxing (Zhao Mengfu) circle, which is the law of poetry, the characters have kai, each is one, the work is not easy, the destroyer sneers at its ancient, and the reputation is regarded as authentic, and the so-called pain and itch are not concerned." Gui's evaluation not only shows that Wen Peng's master method has been obtained, but also promotes the development of Yuan Zhuwen.
Wang LingShan House
Hengshan
But Geng Yin I will be a general
After Wen Peng, his disciples He Zhen, Su Xuan, and Jin Guangxian were all famous in the seal altar at that time. Wen Peng's role in inheriting the previous and enlightening the world at that time should be his greatest contribution to the art of seal engraving. In addition, the more famous Indians in Wumen include Wang Boqin, Zhou Yingyuan, Gui Changshi, Shen Ye and so on.
Wen Peng Zhu Wen "Seventy-Two Peaks Deep"
Ivory stamp, the printing surface is slightly fragmented, the printing surface size is about 2.8 cm square. It is now in the collection of the Shanghai Museum (donated by Mr. Hua Du'an).
Wen Peng is proficient in the Six Books and is good at printing books, this seal is quite bookish, elegant and peaceful, a representative work of Wen Peng's poetry and leisure chapters, and is also a typical seal engraving of the shiwen genre. This seal was excavated during the "War of Resistance" in the 20th century, and later in the process of turning, the edge of the printing surface was damaged, and the edge of the printing surface was seriously eroded, but fortunately it did not affect the reading and appreciation of the indian language. On the whole, this ink stroke is delicate and graceful, square and applied; the periphery of the word is forced (the unexpected effect caused by damage), and the printed text has a strong outward tension. For the first time, this seal was printed with poems and sentences, which greatly developed the content of the seal engraving.
Jin GuangXian Bai Wen "Cultivate before the heavens of my Fa, not the obedience of the times"
Jin Guangxian, Zi Yifu, a native of Xiuning, Anhui. He first studied Wen Peng and He Zhen, and later specialized in Hanyin, which made new ideas. In the forty years of the Wanli Dynasty (1612), the "Retro Seal Selection" (also known as the "Jin Yifu Seal Selection") was integrated, and the first volume was the private seal of the Qin and Han officials; the second volume was self-engraved. This notation is preceded by a preface by Wang Xiaodeng, Li Weizhen, Zou Diguang, Zhao Youguang and others. (Zou Diguang praised the cleverness of the selection of seals, "it is the "Seal Selection" written by Jin Yifu, the first character method, the second chapter method, and the second knife method.") ）
The printing surface of this seal is about 2.5 cm square, and the Indian language is from "Leaving the Sorrow", a total of thirteen characters, and the layout is according to the glyph. This printing stroke is graceful and thick, quite a large seal wide and round meaning; the strokes near the border are forced to be processed, resulting in the tension of the printing facing outward; the chapter is tightly arranged, the strokes between the words are interspersed with each other, and the printing style is seen arbitrarily in the regularity.
Jin Guangxian Baiwen "Mediocrity"
The printing surface is about 2.1 cm square. This seal imitates the Han jade seal, the strokes are extremely delicate, and the printing style is clean and introverted. Several curved strokes in the middle of the word "Yong" contrast sharply with the square fold strokes of the word "Reason". In particular, the word "reason" is carved into the stone, the tip is rounded, and the strokes seem to be broken and connected, full of penmanship. Whether it is a stroke or a structure, this print is handled cleanly and neatly, and the large pieces of red leave it without looking dull at all. Jin Guangxian not only ruled the seal well, but also had a unique insight in theory, tasting the theory that "the engraving of the seal must first be clear, and then the knife method." It is the ancient text of the people of the present day who regard the lack of deficiency as the ancient text, and do not investigate the origin of the six books, and vainly increase or lose, and do not know the Han seal method: flat and square. If the complexity is lost, the subtraction is increased, and if the seals are connected and used, this is the rule. The penmanship and chapter method were left behind by the ancients, and then transported by the knife method, and the axe wheel cut the axe, knowing that they regarded their people as clever, and could not be passed on orally" (see Zhou Lianggong's "Biography of the Indian People, Before the Printing of The Book of Jin Yifu"). Jin Guang's assertion of "first ming penmanship and then on the sword method" and "first through the six books and then on the chapter method" can still be used as the standard for Indians.
Wen Peng Zhu Wen "Qin Qiao Leaning On the Pine Playing With Cranes"
Qingtian stone seal, the size of the printing surface is about 3.3 cm square. It is now the Xiling Printing Society.
This seal is a Zhu Wen Xianzhang, a total of six characters, in three lines evenly arranged, the strokes can be straight in the warmth, the knot body is based on the Yuan Zhu Wen, and the chapter layout is sparse and generous. The whole Indian side is neat and elegant, the square is round, the knife is calm, the courage is sharp, and the printed text is quite three-dimensional. This seal has four sides of the paragraph, which is said to be "Yu and Mr. Jingchuan are good, Mr. Yu and Mr. Jingchuan are good, Mr. Yu has an ancient pine plant, two cranes are stored inside, and the rest of the time, and Yu Xiao is proud of it." Fuqin plays with cranes, and Xun Coke also. Yu both felt Mr. Yu's intention, because he picked up the old stone in the box, sealed his deed to mr. Shang, and passed it on to mr. Shujing and the stone. Shi Jiajing Ding Weiqiu, Mitsuhashi Peng Zhi in Song He Zhai". The printed style book is elegant and beautiful, and the text is eloquent, and it is not inferior to the Ming Dynasty essay. In addition, the top of the seal has the engraving of Wang Fu'an's seal.
Li Liufang Baiwen "sideways heaven and earth more nostalgic"
Li Liufang (1575-1629), also known as ChangYu, also known as Maozai, Tanyuan, Xianghai, Guhuaitang, Cang'an, and Later, Shenyu Layman, Liufu Daoist. A native of Shexian County, Anhui Province, he lived in Jiading, Jiangsu Province (now part of Shanghai). Good poetry and calligraphy, together with Tang Shisheng, Lou Jian, Cheng Jiaxuan and called "Jiading Four Mr.".
The printed surface is 3.1 cm in length and 2.7 cm in width. The Indian language comes from Du Fu's "Will go to Chengdu Caotang on the way to send Yan Zhenggong first" (sideways heaven and earth are more nostalgic, recover the wind and dust sweet breath machine). Li Liufang carved the patriarchal French Text Peng, traced back to the Han seal, and sometimes came up with creativity. The word "ancient" on this seal law occupies a single column, which contrasts sharply with three characters in each of the two columns on the right. This seal is formed by the knife, not carved, looks like a rough dress and messy hair, vertical and horizontal folding, reflecting the printer's freehand printing style of "not choosing stones, unfavorable blades, not matching calligraphy and painting, and making it by hand". He once said, "When Yu was a teenager, he played this way, and his friends competed to imitate it, often opposite, the sound of the sword and pen was pierced, or the sound of the sword and pen was incessant, or shouted triumphantly, marking each other that there was no ancient person at present, and now getting old, reminiscing about the past, it is like another world." And yun "The Indian language is not exclusively based on the Mogu, and it is difficult to change the Hedao Ear." The three bridges and snow fishing are not in the rules of Qin and Han, but there is the meaning of Qin and Han." Li Liufang did not ignore the ancients, but emphasized the entry into the ancient and the new, combined with the humble and simple and deliberately modified indian style, then it is not difficult to understand his words.
Gui Changshi Zhu Wen "Negative Ya Zhi Gao Yun"
Gui Changshi (1573-1644), ziwen xiu, number false nunnery, a native of Kunshan, Jiangsu. It belongs to the grandson of light and the father of Zhuang. Ming Zhusheng, who abandoned his profession early, worked hard to become an ancient text, and his poetry, calligraphy and painting all inherited the family law and achieved achievements. After the death of Ming, he lived in seclusion. There is the "False Anshi Grass".
This seal is 2.4 cm long and 1.4 cm wide, and the Indian language is from Tao Yuanming's "Idle Affection" (light tenderness in the vulgar, negative Yazhi in Gao Yun). The six characters are printed in full print, the orthography is combined with ancient Chinese, the condensation is strict, and the spacing between the two lines is widened in order to seek slackness. Gui Changshi seal engraver FaWen Peng, who also drew nourishment from the Qin and Han seals. This square Zhu Wenyin is fine and vigorous, the turning point is more round, and the intersection of the strokes is welded, which has the effect of Mottled rust of the Han copper seal. Gui Changshi is rigorous and erudite, often has deep thinking in art affairs, and is also very insightful in governing India. Gui Changshi once said, "The seal does not learn the face of the ancients, but in exploring its source, the source is the author's sexual spirit, the sexual spirit is born and the law is born, and the gods are also with it." And yun "article skills, none of them can not reveal their temperament, how to be unique in india and doubt, a knife, change in hand, when it will be known, not let the world know." Yu Qinyin has been swept in all directions, and those who have not yet provided for the knowledge are also ridiculed." It can be seen that its engraving pays great attention to the expression of sexual spirit and the expression of feelings.
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