Zhao Zhichen (1781-1852) was a character of Idle, a character of Present Fu, a Person of Baoyue Mountain, a Hermit of Nanping, and so on. People from Qiantang (Hangzhou), Zhejiang. He did not enter the army in his lifetime, and ended up with self-sufficiency in Jinshi calligraphy and painting, sexual procrastination in Buddhism, and clothing. Chen Yuzhong, the master of seal carving, has a beautiful style. Qing Jin Junyi is one of the eight families in Xiling.
He was proficient in the study of Jinshi scripts, and Ruan Yuan's "Jigu Zhai Zhong Ding Yi Instrument Knowledge", most of the inscriptions were handwritten by Zhao. Gongshi calligraphy and painting. The seals are all in their own style, the golden calligraphy is even more unique, and the landscapes and flowers are super charming, and they are all world-renowned. There are works such as "Supplementary Luojia Room Collection" and "Supplementary Luojia Room Seal Spectrum".
Zhao Cixian carved Chen Yu Zhong Chuan. His grandfather Zhao Xian and Ding Jing, and his father Zhao Dian and Chen Yuzhong were all engaged in friendship, and he inherited his family's learning at an early age, was intelligent and enlightened, and was able to become a teacher. However, he was not confined to the division, and he absorbed the strengths of his predecessors, integrated and penetrated, and made his own way, and praised the printing altar with a steep and beautiful style.
His friend Guo Lu commented on him: "Qiu Tang is noble and dense, and Man Sheng is proud of his ups and downs,...... The second leisure is both obedient to the practitioner, and the pen is close to Mansheng, the heavenly opportunity is there, and the fun is full of fun, so it can pass through the two stations and have its beauty. ”
Shoushan Stone "Golden Stone Qianqiu" Chapter, Qing, Zhao Zhichen Seal Carving, Tong Height 4.7 cm, Printing Side Length 2.5 cm.
Inshoushan stone, square, thin side model. The seal script, Zhu Wen, read the four characters of "Golden Stone Qianqiu" from the top right. The side section is engraved with "Zhao Zhichen Imitation Han". The wide sidebar of the printing surface, the iron wire Zhu Wen stroke hard fold, more and more show the spirit of gold and stone Lingling.
The metaphor of "golden stone" is strong, and here it also refers to the inscription, and the metaphor of "Thousand Autumns" has a long history. These four characters can be found in the sentences "Jinshi Qianqiu Heavy, Songqi Yizi Xiang" and "The name 琬琰四海, the text Jinshi Qianqiu" in wang Shizhen's "Four Drafts of Yizhou" in the Ming Dynasty.
His works are pure and neat, the knots are refined, the knife technique is strong, and the nature is beautiful. Late representative works such as "Self-pity has no old karma, dare not shame micro-officials", "BaosongGe", "hobbies and desires are sour and salty", etc. Loose and simple, ancient Mu Gaomiao, with a knife to indulge in desires, can be called a pure fire. It was he who chose to use the Han Chisel Seal and the Han Jade Seal as a breakthrough in the pursuit of "Han Seal with Personality", and created the most personal characteristics and the most outstanding achievements.
His side paragraphs are timeless, the font is long, slightly oblique, and the knife is spicy and energetic, full of gold and stone interest, and it is still a typical example of later learning to emulate.
In his lifetime, he carved and printed tens of thousands of prints, and was the one with the most works in the eight schools, the richest form of printing except Ding Jing, and the most extensive category of ancient Chinese characters. He died at the age of seventy-two, but there are not a few seals that have survived at the age of seventy and seventy-one2, which shows that he has never stopped working hard. His creative attitude is serious, his works are numerous and exquisite, and they are widely circulated and his statements are widely disseminated.
In the late Jiaqing to The Daoguang years, seventy or eighty years after Ding Jing's death, the first four true genealogies were difficult to find. Therefore, Shiren later learned only Chen (Mansheng) and Zhao Shichong, and regarded their works as a doorway to learn the Zhejiang school. Chen Mansheng's death (1622) was thirty years earlier than Zhao Cixian's, and Zhao's influence was certainly greater. This influence extended not only in the native Zhejiang, but also to the entire indian altar. Wei Xi once lamented about the situation of the Hui Sect at that time: "No wonder the Anhui people know chen and Zhao, but they don't know anything else. ”
After Zhao Ci became famous, there were many enthusiasts, endless seekers, a large number of creations, and social and stylized works were inevitable. Some people say that from the study of the effect of the Yin dynasty can not distinguish between Yan Yan, only the heavy form seems to be passed down as a bad habit, not in Zhao; others say that the second idle and evil life, the flow of habits, the decline of the wind, the Zhejiang school has declined.
In fact, in the later years of Zhao, Qian Song, who had eight palaces and pioneered a new style and had a great success, had risen; the second son Zhao Yi, the students Yang Youtai, Chen Zuwang, and Jiang Zun had all become well-known and famous, among which Jiang Zun was also a figure who had inherited the Zhejiang school for two centuries. The Zhejiang faction is still full of vitality and endless fire. The theory that the Zhejiang faction rises up and dies first is simply untenable.
Historically, there have been very different comments on Zhao Zhichen. People who praise him say that he is the integrator of the Zhejiang school that has been created many times, and is an important part of the development and transformation of the Zhejiang school. Those who ridicule him say that he is the "last stream" of the Zhejiang faction's stylized "ills" and are the source of the zhejiang faction's decline. How to accurately evaluate him, the next section we will combine some historical prints to discuss.
In the Eight Houses of Xiling, Zhao Cixian's forms of printing style are rich and diverse, second only to Ding Jing. In addition to inheriting the inherent style forms of the Zhejiang School, he also made many explorations and pursuits on the long road of art, and achieved high achievements. Please see the attached pictures "Xiaoxingwo", "Lingzhou Clan Reading", "Shonan", "Siqiao Yan", "Baosongge" and other seals, all of which are the original works of Zhao Cixian treasured by xiling printing society, and the style is unique and perfect, surpassing the time and not seen in the other seven.
It is no wonder that later critics saw Yin Tuo and were so confined to their "impression" of Zhao Yinfeng that they were referring to it as a forgery. If it is said that this part of the printed works is not too common, then Zhao Cixian's many Han chisel copper seals and Han jade seal print works have reached a high degree of artistic achievement, which has been more and more valued by experts and researchers.
The "Wadang Dang Yan Zhai" seal is Zhao Cixian's middle-aged masterpiece, with his grasp and divine meeting of the Han Chisel Copper Rush Printing style, with the simple and casual orthography structure of the Zhejiang School, with the refreshing and sharp single knife cutting as the basic technique, combined with the refined and subtle gestures and the ancient clumsy charm of the stone in the knife, so that the all-Indian style can see the spirit in the free and clumsy, so that the square folded and straight lines are full of three-dimensional sense and dynamic. The accompanying pictures of "Habitual Late Answer to Love Books", "Self-pity without old karma, do not dare to shame micro-officials", "Caotang Near Bu Yue Zhai Neighbor" and so on are all his meditation works. The high degree of knife skills and the elegant and flowing charm are amazing.
His Han jade seals such as "Once upon a time in the sea", "Chenshu Brush Characters", "Ziwei Flower Pavilion HanMo" and other seals, the style is similar to his Han chisel printing style, with a knife to hide the edge, and the pen is more subtle.
Zhao Cixian's early printing style was influenced by Chen Mansheng. Chen Mansheng's sword technique was vast and imposing, and there was no match for him. His personality and understanding are fortunately combined at the best point, so he can be unique in the majestic and vigorous printing style of HanzhuYin. Zhao Ci has a high sense of idleness but an indifferent personality, and he is good at Buddhism, and his works naturally exude a clean, profound, elegant and timeless style. He transformed Chen Mansheng's canghun sword technique into a method of carrying a knife with vigor and lightness, using the knife to express his gesture and open a path. Therefore, the ancestor Han Deng'an commented that he "the knife is not exposed, the knife is visible", the language seems to be contradictory, which is actually the insight of the Fang family.comte. Later, in the derivative development of the Zhejiang school of printing, Zhong Yuesheng, Wang Fu'an, Han Deng'an, etc. all paid attention to the expression of penmanship on the knife, hid the knife marks into the penmanship, and pushed the traditional style of the Zhejiang school to a new style that contained deep elegance.
The use of two subsections of text and many printing examples to make an introduction is to let you understand a complete Zhao Cixian printing style as fully as possible. It would be unfair to use only a pejorative word "qiao" and a "habit" to judge Zhao Cixian. In fact, as Mr. Ye Yiwei said, if we can see and analyze Zhao's works comprehensively, rather than just some (especially those selected by prejudiced people), then those who agree with Zhao's derogatory comments may have new evaluations.
Writing here, I am reminded of two seal notations of a famous contemporary seal engraver, one of which was determined and published by him before his death, which only contains more than 100 prints, which fully reflects his profound and exquisite seal engraving art. One was published after his death, summarizing and displaying all his prints that could be collected, including obvious works of entertainment.
It can be assumed that this must have been against his will, and it was unfair to evaluate his artistic creation. We have no intention of blaming or criticizing the editors, who must have had their own well-intentioned ideas. But if the situation is to abandon a work that is excellent by an author, but instead to search for works that can conform to the editor's own views to support it, this is another matter.