Stamping rules for calligraphy works and related seal contents.

1. Ancient seal of the Warring States Period

Ancient seal is the general name of pre-Qin seal. Most of the earliest seals we can see now are ancient seals in the Warring States period. Many features of these ancient seals are unknown to us now. Most ancient seals in Zhu Wen are equipped with wide edges. The strokes of the seal are very fine, and they are all cast. The ancient seal script in white language is made by adding more side bars or vertical grids in the middle, and the characters are cast and chiseled. In addition to the names of Sima and Situ, the official seal has various irregular shapes, and the content is also engraved with auspicious words and vivid objects.

2. Qin seal

Qin Zhuan refers to the seal that was popular from the end of the Warring States Period to the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, and the characters used are called. Look at its calligraphy style and Qin and Han dynasties, Qin stone carvings and other characters are very similar, are more popular than the ancient prose in the Warring States period. Qin seals are mostly carved in white, and the word "Tian" is often printed on the surface, mostly square. The official seal used by junior officials is about half the size of the general square official seal, and it is rectangular, and it is made into the word "day", which is called "semi-pass seal". Private seals are generally rectangular, but also round and oval. In addition to official names, personal names and Kyrgyz, there are aphorisms and idioms such as "respect for things", "think of success" and "harmony with the people".

3. Official Seal of China

Broadly speaking, it is a general term for official seal from Han Dynasty to Wei and Jin Dynasties. Compared with Qin Zhuan, the seal is more neat, straight, square and vigorous in style. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the handicraft industry was very developed, so in the new headstrong era, (? The official seal of "Xin" is particularly exquisite and vivid, and the seal art of Han Dynasty reached its peak. Therefore, it became a model for later seal engravers to learn.

The official seals of the two Han dynasties are mostly white, all of which are cast. Only a few troops are in urgent need of carving the official seal of the brothers instead of casting it, which will be introduced later.

4. Private printing in China

China private seal is a private seal in the Han Dynasty, which is the largest and richest in ancient seals. Not only do they have different shapes, but they are all made of cinnabar and white, or decorated with patterns such as four spirits, and there are also multi-sided printing, overprinter (mother-child printing) and hook printing. In addition to the name, the printed words often include Ji language, native place, table characters, and auxiliary words such as "seal", "private seal" and "letter seal". The button system is extremely diverse, which fully shows the ingenuity of craftsmen in the Han Dynasty. Private printing in the Han Dynasty was still dominated by white, engraving in the Western Han Dynasty and chiseling and casting in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

5. Ordinary printed matter

General seal is also a kind of official seal of China. These seals are often temporary dispatches on the way to March, and they are engraved on the printed surface with a knife, which is also called "urgent printing". Pu Yin's unique style is full of interest and has a great influence on his later artistic style. In the Han dynasty, generals used seals, which are generally called "seals" rather than "seals", which is a major feature of military seals.

6. Han yuyin

The imperial seal of the Han Dynasty is very precious and rare in ancient seals. "Dai Yu" was also an elegant fashion of famous officials and celebrities in ancient times. Generally, the jade seal is well-made, with rigorous composition and rounded strokes. At first glance, the strokes are straight and upright, but they have no intention of stagnation. Because jade is hard and not easy to be cut by a knife, a special seal cutting technique, the so-called "knife cutting method", has emerged. Because jade is not easy to corrode and damage, it has been passed down from generation to generation, which better preserves its true colors.

7. Seal of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

The official seal, private seal and button system in Wei and Jin Dynasties followed the Han Dynasty, but the casting was not as beautiful as that in Han Dynasty. The official seal handed down from generation to generation by brothers is like a knife, and the calligraphy style naturally came into being in Xu Ya-sheng, becoming the representative of seal cutting style in a period. There were not many seals handed down from ancient times in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, but the official seal was slightly larger, and the words were hastily carved, but the official seal was not cast.

8. Bai Zhu printing

Zhu's alternate printing style is very ingenious in China and India. It is said that it originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Its ways are extremely diverse, and the position arrangement and word number of Bai Zhu characters can be flexibly changed without restriction. The number of seals cited here can be seen. Bai Zhu's principle is to look at the number of strokes, while Zhu Wen mostly has more strokes, Zhu Wen mostly has fewer strokes, while Bai Wen does the opposite, thus achieving the harmonious effect of Zhu Bairu and Bai Ruzhu. Most of these seals are privately printed and not used for official seals.

9. Letterpress printing

Mother seal, also known as "Xi seal", originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty and prevailed in the Wei, Jin and Six Dynasties. It is a seal composed of two or three seals. A person's stomach is empty, and one or two baby seals can be properly inserted to form the shape of a mother's pocket. There are also two seals on one side (such as the "country one" seal in the right column) to form a group of three parties. There are several seals in the volume of one seal, which shows the technical level of ancient printing.

10. Six-sided printing

There are few six-sided prints handed down from generation to generation. This kind of "convex" print has a hole in the nose, which can be worn, and a small print on the nose, together with the other five printing surfaces, is called six-sided print. The typical style of six-sided printing handed down from ancient times is a white belt with edges, and each word is a line, which is dense on the top and sparse on the bottom. The vertical pen of the printing is long and drooping, and the end is tapered like a hanging needle, so it is commonly known as "hanging needle printing". Although this style has the advantages of stroke stretching and contrast, it is easy to become vulgar, far less than that of China and India, so seal engravers have only done it occasionally.

1 1. Miao seal (with a book of flowers and birds)

There are few six-sided prints handed down from generation to generation. This kind of "convex" print has a hole in the nose, which can be worn, and a small print on the nose, together with the other five printing surfaces, is called six-sided print. The typical style of six-sided printing handed down from ancient times is a white belt with edges, and each word is a line, which is dense on the top and sparse on the bottom. The vertical pen of the printing is long and drooping, and the end is tapered like a hanging needle, so it is commonly known as "hanging needle printing". Although this style has the advantages of stroke stretching and contrast, it is easy to become vulgar, far less than that of China and India, so seal engravers have only done it occasionally.

12. Miscellaneous seals

Among the seals since the Warring States Period, miscellaneous seal is also a very unique category. Its style is not fixed, ranging from a few inches to a few minutes, and the changes are extremely rich. In addition to the length and width of Fiona Fang, there are concave and convex patterns, squares, circles, triangles, two circles and three round beads, three-leaf unfolded shapes and so on. The reason why miscellaneous printing is only used for private printing is because of its unique humor and solemn and calm requirements different from official seals.

13. Graphic printing

From the Warring States to the Han and Wei Dynasties, there were prints, most of which were in the Han Dynasty. Also known as Xiao seal or pictographic seal. Various forms, concise and vivid, in addition to figures, birds and animals, horseback riding, auspicious sheep, fish and geese and other patterns, the four spirits of auspicious sheep are common. Dragon, tiger, sparrow and (phoenix and turtle) are printed, which is also called "four-spirit seal".

14. Cheng Yuyin

Cheng Yuxi has existed since the Warring States Period, and there are more than 100 proverbs and idioms used. For example, there are many idioms, such as "going straight", "respecting things", "benefiting the sky" and "being lucky in coming and going". The number of words varies from one to two, up to 20, which is used to express good luck and to commemorate the dead.

15. Huayin

Hua Yin is also called "Bet Word", which flourished in Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty, so it is also called "Yuan Bet". Yuan bet is mostly rectangular, generally engraved with regular script surnames, and engraved with Ba Si Ba Wen or Hua bet. From a practical point of view, most of the seals of past dynasties have the function of anti-counterfeiting. As an individual's arbitrary writing, the changed "betting words" (some of which are not words, but personal symbols) are naturally more difficult to imitate and achieve the effect of anti-counterfeiting, so this kind of betting words has been used until the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

16. Sa

Mud seal, also known as "mud seal", is not a seal, but a precious object preserved from the remains of ancient seals-a dry and hard mud mass covered with ancient seals. Because the original seal was a negative seal, the clock became a positive seal on the mud, and its edge was a mud surface, so it formed a wide edge and different edges. Pipa was used from the Warring States Period to the Han and Wei Dynasties, until after the Jin Dynasty, when paper, silk and silks gradually replaced bamboo slips and wooden slips, pipa could not be used. Later seal engravers borrowed these precious seal engraving rubbings for printing, thus expanding the range of seal engraving methods. Basic training and creation

17. Button system

Most ancient seals had buttons, so that the buttons were punched and tied to the belt. This is the ancient way of "wearing a seal". Since the Han Dynasty, emperors and officials have distinguished themselves by buttons such as tortoise, camel and horse. For example, the turtle button, camel button and snake button used in the history of senior officials were common button systems for granting official seals to brothers in the Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties. There are many buttons in past dynasties, among which altar buttons, nose buttons and multi-bucket buttons are the most common. Now, some button systems are listed on the right to see a point.

Official seal since sui and Tang dynasties

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, official seals began to increase. With the wide application of paper, Zhu Wen gradually replaced Bai Wen. Many official seals began to engrave year numbers on the back. In terms of characters, Sui seal was used more, and the "ten-fold text" printing was started (the number of "nine" in ancient times was the ultimate, and there was no need for a ten-fold. Can vary with the complexity of the strokes) to fill the printed surface. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, official script printing was started, and Manchu was used as official seal in the Qing Dynasty. Both Chinese and Chinese are used, engraved in a seal. The official seals left by the ignorant peasant regimes in the Qing Dynasty are also revolutionary cultural relics worth cherishing.

19. Song Yuanyuan Zhu Wenyin

Since Wei and Jin Dynasties, paper and silk have gradually replaced bamboo slips. By the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the use of seals had directly covered the printing cymbals. In the Yuan Dynasty, during the heyday of literati painting, the seal written by literati seal had been integrated with poetry, calligraphy and painting, which played a distinct role and was loved by calligraphy and painting. At this stage, firstly, Zhao Mengfu, a painter and calligrapher in the early Song Dynasty, advocated seal cutting. Due to the influence of Li Zhuanshu on calligraphy, the seal style is smooth and beautiful, resulting in a unique seal-"round" seal, which was adopted by later seal engravers.

20. The imprint of brotherly national character

Under the influence of Han culture, since the Song Dynasty, brother nations have created their own characters based on China's calligraphy, and used their own characters as official seals, which rarely spread. The seals they have seen are Jin Guo (Jurchen) book, Yuan Dynasty Basiba script and Xixia script, many of which are still unknown.

2 1. Today's style seal

In China's calligraphy, seal script has become the main body of seal cutting because of its strong decoration. However, after the Qin and Han Dynasties, with the development of calligraphy, seal script is not the only calligraphy used for seals. In addition to the seal of Kai Lee in the Tang and Song Dynasties and the seal cutting in the Yuan Dynasty, there was a precedent of Li Jieyin in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Since the Qing Dynasty, seal engravers have also begun to try to print in modern styles (official script, regular script and cursive script), among which there are many excellent works. This makes us realize that the embodiment of seal cutting is not limited to the use of a certain style, but the key lies in the high application ability of composition, calligraphy and knife cutting.

22. Collect seals, lent seals and leisure stamps.

As an appreciation art, seals developed in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and began to appear for collection, appreciation and modification. There are many kinds of clocks in the calligraphy and painting collection. "Zhai official seal" is a seal engraved with the nickname of "building, pavilion, pavilion, nest, courtyard, Zhai, porch, hall" and other literati's study and living room, but in fact, many nominal seals (Wen Zhiming said that most of his bookstores were built on seals) are just the expression of intellectuals' ideological spirit. Leisure seal originated from ancient auspicious seal. These works printed with poems, idioms, famous sayings and proverbs have further developed seal cutting from a simple practical art of engraving official positions and names into an independent appreciation art with literary significance, which complements poetry, calligraphy and painting.