Compared with the development of seal itself, the marriage of seal and calligraphy and painting is much later, which also affects the practice of painters using seal today. Before the invention of paper, people used bamboo slips and wooden slips as writing materials. The carrier of sealing application is sealing mud-a dry and hard mud body covering the seal. Pipa was used from the Warring States Period to the Han and Wei Dynasties. From the 3rd century to the 4th century, with the improvement and popularization of papermaking technology, bamboo slips were gradually replaced by paper and silk, and the use habit of sealing mud was no longer popular. The application of seal has gradually changed from seal mud to dipping Zhu Mo in paper. The wide application of paper not only changed the use of seals, but also created conditions for the combination of seals and calligraphy and painting.
As far as we know, painters and calligraphers in the Tang Dynasty have not seen the practice of using their own seals to win the trust in their works. According to the records in the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms, Maozhou, before Shu, made a secretariat statement, "Every book is inscribed, slightly immersed, and needs to be revised, so the book is bitter." The "inscription" here means stamping and stamping, which means the same as "inscription". It can be seen that in the pre-Shu period, people began to seal in letters. It is the involvement of private seal in letters and official documents that laid the foundation for the emergence of calligraphy and painting seal.
Integrated Development —— Song and Yuan Dynasties
Song Dynasty valued literature over martial arts, and its economic and cultural achievements were the peak of the whole feudal era. Due to the advocacy of emperors and painters such as Song Huizong and Song Gaozong, seal cutting became all the rage among literati, and seal cutting for calligraphy and painting also developed rapidly. Calligraphy and painting seals were used in the Northern Song Dynasty. At present, the earliest physical object is Ouyang Xiu's "Reading a Book for the Ming Dynasty", which is stamped with the seal of "June 1 Lay Man". Ouyang Xiu's usual "Xiu" seal and "Drunken offspring will stay forever" seal are both seals with collection significance. There is also Ouyang Xiu's seal of "Sixty-one layman" in "Shang En Tie". Song Huizong established the Painting Academy, and he himself was a practitioner of poetry, calligraphy and painting. In his own paintings and Gu Shuhua's signature inscription, you can see his rectangular seal of "Imperial Book" and gourd seal. The second post of Wu Ju's book in the Southern Song Dynasty has the seal of "Taoist Yunhe" on the white background, and the Four Clear Pictures contain Zhu Wen's Descendants of Cao Xuan and Yang Wuxia's Escape Zen on the white background. After the artistic practice and promotion of painters and calligraphers, by the late Northern Song Dynasty, seals had become an organic part of paintings and calligraphy works, and the format of money stamped on paintings and calligraphy works had been widely accepted by scholars at that time. But if calligraphy and painting really use a lot of seals, and the seals used are varied, Mi Fei should be the forerunner.
In the Yuan Dynasty, Mongolians entered the Central Plains and practiced a barbaric and backward hierarchy in politics, which made many literati give up their official careers and look for new psychological sustenance. In society, "the political system is easy to go up, but the Taoist system still exists", which is also true for Taoism and art. The relatively relaxed cultural environment is conducive to the continuation of artistic traditions, and the integration of poetry, calligraphy and printing has also been further developed. Among them, Zhao Mengfu and Wang Mian are the most famous figures.
Zhao Mengfu is gifted in many aspects, such as poetry, calligraphy and painting. The seals he uses are all from his own creation, from the writing of seal characters to the arrangement of rules. The seal of Zhu Wen, created by Zhu Wen, uses Xiao Zhuan, and the seal cutting uses a graceful, elegant and elastic "Jade Seal", so the seal surface is full of charm and has a flowing and lively literati seal cutting atmosphere, which complements its paintings and calligraphy works. Zhao Mengfu also promoted the popularization and application of calligraphy and painting seals. Like Mi Fei, there is no definite material to prove whether Zhao Mengfu can carve himself.
China has a long history of using stone seals, as early as the beginning of seal creation. According to archaeological data, it has existed in all dynasties. In Changsha alone, from the founding of New China to the 1970s, 44 talc seals of the Western Han Dynasty were unearthed, and a few official and folk lithographs of the Warring States Period were also unearthed. But these steatite prints are for burial. At present, the Han Dynasty lithographs "Qiaping Macheng Seal" and "Gongxian Tucheng Seal" collected in the Palace Museum are used as mother molds for casting seals, which is another use of lithographs. However, after the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the nature of literati's participation in stone engraving was different. Today, we can confirm from the related documents of Song and Yuan Dynasties and the historical materials of the literati seal carvers that it is very common for the literati in Song Dynasty to seal the stone seals themselves. However, Wang Mian, a painter in the Yuan Dynasty, was the first person to carve his own seal with stones, and he recorded it accurately, which can be seen in his paintings. Since the Song and Yuan Dynasties, lithograph has become a popular seal cutting material among literati, which makes the literati no longer stay outside the threshold of seal cutting, but enter the room, making the seal cutting of literati integrate book seal cutting, pattern cutting and knife cutting. Since then, seal cutting has become a direct embodiment of literati's temperament, thoughts and aesthetic interests, and has truly become an indispensable part of poetry, calligraphy and painting.
Leisure Style-Ming and Qing Dynasties
Seal cutting made a new breakthrough in the middle of Ming Dynasty. As pioneers of the brilliant achievements of seal cutting in Ming and Qing Dynasties, Wen Peng and He Zhen reversed the grotesque ten-fold characters on the printing altar, strived to catch up with Qin and Han Dynasties, and started the prosperity of seal cutting in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Since then, there has been a craze for seal cutting. As a kind of literati art, seal cutting has been accepted by people, and it has become a practice to invite famous seal cutting. At the same time, when painting developed to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, lyrical and freehand literati paintings occupied the mainstream position, and a large number of artists engaged in painting and calligraphy, seal cutting and poetry appeared at the same time, which made painting and calligraphy and seal cutting more closely combined. Painters and calligraphers can seal seals at will, which becomes the pastime of literati who are juxtaposed with poetry and painting.
The widespread use of leisure chapter has also become a temporary trend. Xu Kang recorded such an anecdote in "The Past Is Like a Dream": "Hengshan has the seal of' Only Geng Yin I will surrender', and the years of life are worth Yin. Wen Ershui (Jia) printed' Zhao Ci Yu Hao Ming', and Wen Sanqiao County Bo (Peng) printed' Stealing my old Peng', all using idioms according to their names. " The printed language of Wen's father and son can not only tell people their date of birth, but also show their cultivation and sensitivity, and also show their exquisite seal cutting skills, which is wonderful.
The pinnacle of skills-Wu Changshuo
As the inevitable result of the development of seal cutting, seal cutting in the late Qing Dynasty embarked on a compound creative road of "book printing", "knife printing" and "seeking printing from outside". Wu Changshuo's seal cutting is a combination of Zhejiang School and Huizhou School, which is complicated and belongs to Qin and Han Dynasties. Rich in flavor, it surpassed the previous generation of philosophers and was called "post-Zhejiang School" in Indian history.
Wu Changshuo's seal cutting is due to his exquisite attainments in calligraphy. His calligraphy is good at five aspects, vigorous and simple, especially seal script. Wu Changshuo's seal script, based on Shi Guwen, combines the styles of three generations of Zhong Ding pottery, brick carving and other figures, breaks the stereotype and melts into his own will, and changes the structure into a long oblique shape to increase momentum and change, thus forming his own unique style. He also integrated the stone drum seal and cursive brushwork into the painting, which was unrestrained, vigorous and strong, and had a strong stone flavor. After decades of painstaking efforts, Wu Changshuo has reached the realm of mastering seal cutting, calligraphy, poetry and painting at the same time.
Printing practice of famous painters and painters in modern times
Modern masters of painting and calligraphy pay attention to the integration of painting, calligraphy and printing. Many painters and painters are themselves masters of printing. Qi Baishi, Lai Chusheng, Yu et al. They are all masters of painting, calligraphy and printing. However, there are also some painters who are not as well-known as Indian artists and manage a small number of seals, but they have unique opinions on the use of seals in their works, such as Huang, Pan Tianshou and Zhang Daqian. Among them, Zhang Daqian's use of seals is almost strict, which can be matched according to the different styles of calligraphy and painting in different periods. For example, in his early painting "Shi Tao and the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China", his calligraphy style is mostly neat and tidy, with a strong taste of official script, and his seals are mostly carved by himself, with a vigorous style. /kloc-after the 1930 s, the painting style was more elegant and the composition was elegant. The lettering was changed to a running script of "What's Interest", and the seal was made by Fang Jiekan and others. Regarding the use of seals, he also has a set of theories: "seals are also square, and round seals are also acceptable. If the waist is round and natural, it is not available. Fine brushwork should use ancient seals, and people are white. Freehand brushwork can be used in the official seal system of Han Dynasty and Anhui and Zhejiang factions. Among them, Wu Rangzhi is the most suitable, if nothing is authentic in the Ming Dynasty. " Judging from its use of seals, this statement is indeed true. The seals used by Pan Tianshou are mostly from Lai Chusheng, Yu, Sha Menghai and others, which belong to the style of printing all the way, and calligraphy and painting complement each other. Although there are few self-engravings, they are not inferior to the masters who specialize in printing. Fu Baoshi is also good at printing. His painting style is magnificent and profound, his brushwork is thin, hard and stiff, and his printing style is simple and ethereal, which is attributed to his quiet personality. Most of Lu's seals were made by He Shikai, and each engraved a batch. Both of them are masters of printmaking, with unique styles, and the spatial layout and line texture are very consistent with the ground paintings. Liu Yiwen's seal cutting, Zhu Peier's seal cutting and Wu Zijian's seal cutting are examples of the harmony and unity of calligraphy and painting.