How to Appreciate Seal Engraving
After understanding the art of seal engraving, let’s shift our perspective to how to appreciate the work itself. Only with some ability to appreciate it can one gradually clarify their own direction in learning this art:
1. The Unique Aesthetic of the “Spirit of Metal and Stone”
Unlike the blended, fluid interaction of ink and paper in traditional calligraphy, the collision between knife and stone produces a kind of archaic, robust, even “fractured” quality in the lines. This is the unique “spirit of metal and stone” (Jinshiwei), a fundamental aesthetic standard in our appreciation of seal engraving.
The primary reason behind “the spirit of metal and stone” as a core aesthetic standard traces back to the concept of “taking Qin and Han seals as the model” (Yin Zong Qin Han). Since Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan Dynasty advocated for a “return to antiquity,” the aesthetic standards for both calligraphy and seal engraving no longer stopped at the Tang and Song dynasties but looked further back to the Qin, Han, Wei, and Jin periods. By the Yuan era, seals from the Qin and Han periods had been handled for nearly a millennium. Most of the seal materials themselves showed signs of corrosion and nicks. The “spirit of metal and stone” is precisely the feeling of time’s trace left on the material of the seal itself. Developed and promoted by seal artists through the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, this aesthetic standard gradually became an unwritten rule among practitioners and has thus become one of the fundamental aesthetic standards in contemporary seal engraving.
2. The Ingenuity of Layout: “A Universe of Expression Within a Square Inch”
How to make characters, strokes, and negative space coexist harmoniously within a tiny seal face tests the skill of “compositional layout” (Zhangfa). It is like managing a miniature world—sometimes balanced and steady, sometimes daringly dynamic—filled with philosophical contemplation. Therefore, a high-quality seal first impresses with its masterful compositional layout.
3. The Mind-Hand Unity of “Wielding the Knife Like a Brush”
Seal engraving is not merely technique; it is a cultivation of mind and character. Holding the knife requires complete concentration, with every bit of force and rhythm under control. In this moment, you “converse” with the stone in your hand. All your focus and emotion converge at the knife’s tip, ultimately creating a unique imprint that belongs solely to you.
The learning of knife technique is entirely different from other steps. It is a skill that can only be gradually improved through continuous hands-on practice and repeated training.