Chapter 17 Conclusion of the fourth quarter

Some people think that the seal is just a practical symbol, or it is just an embellishment attached to the calligraphy and painting works.Although the art of seal cutting is not as profoundly affecting the development of social civilization as literature, painting and other art categories, it has a long history and has been passed down from generation to generation.Although the seal cutting works are small in size, they are divided into red and white, varying in density and majestic.Even if it is an art sketch, it is also an independent art category.It includes elements of calligraphy, painting, sculpture and even aesthetics, and has independent artistic rules and forms of expression. It can be called an artistic flower with distinctive national characteristics in traditional culture.During the long historical development of seal cutting art, its social functions and expressive content have also been continuously enriched and expanded.As a cultural carrier, with its unique form, it reflects the status of laws and regulations and civilized customs in each era.Appreciating the art of seal cutting can increase knowledge and enrich the knowledge and understanding of traditional culture.In some seal cutting works, the healthy and progressive text content expressed in the seal text can also inspire and educate the appreciators.Many thinkers and writers in modern times often regard seal cutting works as a special form of "expressing one's will".When Lu Xun was ostracized and persecuted for advocating the New Culture Movement, he once asked Chen Shizeng to engrave a seal of "Long Tang", which read "Gentleman's life is easy to live in", and protested contemptuously against the bureaucrats' strife.Known as "the first Chinese who looked at the world", Lin Zexu struggled all his life to resist imperialist aggression and get rid of the malpractice of feudal rule in the extremely corrupt political environment of the closed country.This patriotic politician is also a poet and calligrapher with profound cultural literacy.He is also a lover of seal cutting art, and he has been working hard all his life to print "words of will".This historical fact is still little known.The seals used by Lin Zexu are all self-engraved seals, which contain the sigh of unfulfilled ambitions in life.This is the subtle and silent effect of artistic creation and appreciation activities.Art creation and appreciation activities themselves also enrich cultural life, enhance the interest of life, and benefit physical and mental health.A successful seal in art can also make people rise to a high level of aesthetic realm with strong artistic appeal, so that people can get spiritual pleasure, thereby stimulating people's love for the excellent cultural traditions of the motherland, improving aesthetic concepts and artistic accomplishment .The popularization of art appreciation activities can also improve the spiritual quality of the nation as a whole and promote the improvement of the civilization of all members of the society.

Some young friends feel that the art of seal is unpredictable and difficult to find the way.This is due to less contact.If you can spend a little time to master some rules and related knowledge of seal cutting art, it is not difficult to pass the "recognition and reading" barrier and enter the classroom. The art of seal cutting is based on seal characters, which has the characteristics of abstract art.The formal beauty of seal cutting art is displayed by the line structure of the printed text and the contrasting layout of vermilion and white, which requires appreciation of various formal factors such as the shape of the seal, the choice of fonts, the arrangement of dense and virtual structures, and the use of borders and sidebars. , and with the help of Lenovo, appreciate the beauty in it.Everyone is familiar with the story of Zhang Xu, a calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, who learned cursive calligraphy from watching Gongsun Da Niang dance sword.Appreciating seal cutting works of art also requires cultivating the ability to feel beauty in life.Over time, one can cultivate the comprehension ability to appreciate the art of seal cutting, accumulate the feeling of the scale, strength, weight, tone, texture and space division of the seal, and improve the aesthetic ability.The abstract feature of seal cutting art also requires that when appreciating it, it is not possible to rely on intuitive browsing, but to repeatedly watch and compare and deeply appreciate it.In the history of calligraphy, the story of standing in a horse and watching steles can be used to summarize the appreciation methods needed for the art of seal cutting.It is said that Ouyang Xun, a calligrapher in the early Tang Dynasty, was riding a horse on the road. He happened to see a stele written by Suo Jing, a calligrapher of the Jin Dynasty, by the side of the road. Because he admired Suo Jing's calligraphy achievements, he reined in his horse to look at it for a long time and then hurried on the road.Along the way, I always had the impression of viewing the stele in my mind, and I felt that there were many places that needed to be studied in depth, so I went back to the original road to observe carefully in front of the stele. , and stay nearby when it gets dark.After three days of observing like this, "if you realize something, you will only leave."Concentrating on watching, repeating and deepening, is the appreciation habit that should be cultivated in appreciating the art of seal cutting.

Appreciation of a seal can be carried out from various angles and levels: the natural and beautiful material and color displayed by the seal material; the shape and carving process of the seal button; the overall grasp of the charm of the seal; The power of formal techniques such as composition, the artistic style composed of various formal factors, and so on.In addition, the mastery of external knowledge such as the era in which seal carvers lived, their living environment, their personality in the world and the relationship between the content and skills of their works can also make the appreciation activities more comprehensive and in-depth.Appreciation and evaluation are organically linked together. With the deepening of appreciation, it is inevitable to understand and accumulate a lot of knowledge about the characteristics of various seal scripts, the artistic features of seals of various eras, various art schools and even the artistic styles and techniques of famous seal carvers. Therefore, when appreciating the works, it is natural to contact and analyze the writer's life and creation, compare the quality of the works, and what traditional achievements the writer's works have absorbed, what unique artistic processing, artistic personality and style characteristics, etc.In this way, appreciation has risen from a purely perceptual knowledge to a level of rational analysis.Appreciating art is also a process of improving artistic accomplishment and aesthetic ability.Appreciating excellent works can increase interest and intelligence, and cultivate healthy and noble sentiments.

The art of seal cutting is a comprehensive art combining calligraphy art and carving art.The artistic level, elegant and vulgar style of seal cutting works depends on the skill and cultivation of calligraphy art.Many accomplished seal carvers are first and foremost calligraphers with profound knowledge and skills.It is hoped that young friends who are interested in improving the appreciation ability of seal cutting art and engaged in the creation of seal cutting art will pay attention to the study and practice of calligraphy art, and take calligraphy art as a basic cultivation accumulation, so as to lay a solid foundation.We hope that more young friends will care about the art of seal cutting, so that this traditional art treasure of the Chinese nation can be passed on from generation to generation and promoted and developed.