Despite the omnipresence of computer keyboards today and the reluctance of most people to write anything by hand, there are still those with the passion for drawing Chinese characters with pens, brushes, or even knives. How do you draw characters with a knife you may ask? Actually it is a unique Chinese art form, known as seal cutting, and one of the three major traditional Chinese art forms that also include calligraphy and painting.
To appreciate the art of seal cutting, you need to have some knowledge of the culture of seals in China. In a Chinese painting or calligraphic work, you will find a red seal print, small and normally square, bearing the name of the painter or calligrapher and used as proof of the authenticity of the work. The seal prints represent an important part of Chinese history, traditional art and culture.
Chinese seals are made of hard materials (like stone or marble) with its content cut in a form of ancient Chinese characters, such as xiao zhuan, mainly used in Qin Dynasty (B.C. 221-B.C. 206). The essence of seal carving is to enhance the beauty of Chinese characters with the skill of cutting or engraving. It is said that Chinese seals are the precursor of printing, one of the country's four biggest inventions.
The history of using seals can be traced back to the Warring States Period (B.C. 403-B.C. 221). The majority of seals during that time were made of bronze, while jade was used in the imperial families. Initially, all seals were cut by special craftsmen and were made only for practical use in daily life and official work. Mainly names or official titles were carved on the seals to prove the identities of the seal owners.
But later, after several dynasties of development, some painters began to cut seals on stones by themselves. Besides cutting their names on stones, they also cut poems or mottos onto stone seals to express their feelings about creating the painting, or the completion date of the work. This gradually developed in stone seal cutting, evolving into a major art form in China.
The most important things about creating a seal are to carefully design the characters that you want to cut and to be skilled in the use of carving tools.
To add the value to the seal, artists generally will carve exquisite sculptures on the top and bas-relief on the sides of seal bodies, which are usually cuboid in shape. When a seal is finished, it is pressed onto an inkpad soaked with vermilion ink, and then used to stamp the work of art.
Shoushan stone is considered to be the best material for seal carving. Found in South China's Fujian Province, the stone is called the "national stone" of China. With a mild hardness and soft natural colors, the stone has been favored by generations of Chinese seal engravers.
The beauty of the combination of the seal engraving art and the Shoushan stone was manifested in a recent large-scale seal cutting exhibition held at the China Millenium Monument in Beijing in mid-April this year. The exhibition presented over 500 seal cutting works created by contemporary Chinese seal cutting artists.
Visitors got the chance to appreciate the works of some seal cutting masters in modern China, such as Qi Baishi and Wu Changshuo, who use Shoushan stone for their masterpieces. Items from international and local collectors were also on display.
