Purple Culture : RSS Product Feed :: The History and Art of Chinese Seals http://www.purpleculture.net/ en Copyright (c) 2026 Purple Culture purple@purpleculture.net (Purple Culture) purple@purpleculture.net (Purple Culture) Mon, 08 Jun 2026 22:31:34 +0800 Purple Culture News RSS Feed 1440 The History and Art of Chinese Seals http://www.purpleculture.net/the-history-and-art-of-chinese-seals-p-4632 http://www.purpleculture.net/the-history-and-art-of-chinese-seals-pr-4632
The art of seal design and carving is the last major Chinese art form that has not received much attention in the West.At last, there is now an authoritative exposition on the history and aesthetics of the art of the Chinese seal. It should berequired reading by all students of Chinese art as another path to reach an understanding of an underlying principle ofall Chinese art and the knowledge gained will be of immeasurable help in connoisseurship of Chinese paintings andcalligraphy. For people who are interested in graphic design, and who possess an elementary knowledge of thestructure of Chinese characters, the book will be a great source of inspiration.
　　��James C. Y. Watt, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York
From ancient times to the present day, the countries of East Asia, led by China, have produced great quantities of seals.China has been regarded as the world's seal producer par excellence. Since the Ming Dynasty, the practical applicationof the seal has been in decline, but its aesthetic qualities have dramatically improved. Over time this has led to thedevelopment of a new category of Chinese art - seal engraving. Scholars thus address the seal from two differentstandpoints: historians, paleographers and archaeologists are more concerned with the practical use of ancient seals,while art historians and lovers of arts are more interested in the art of seal engraving.All will welcome the completion of this first comprehensive work written independently by an individual on the 2,500-yearhistory of Chinese seals. It addresses such topics as historiography, epigraphy and artistic history. An additionalcontribution ot what is by any standards an outstanding book is the collection of hundreds of invaluable, clear, anddetailed pictures depicting genuine items. This is a monumental work on the significance and distinctiveness of Chineseseals in the field of world seal history. I sincerely hope it will enjoy wide-spread popularity among the readers.
　　��Michio Matsumaru, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo
The striking feature of the book lies in its interpretation of the special character of Chinese seals with the combination ofsuch information as the evolution of script in Chinese seals and the seal system through 3,000 years of social order anddisorder, political reforms, economic prosperity and decline, ethnic conflicts and integration, and changes in culturalfashion. Many original academic conclusions are drawn and the latest thinking in modern seal theory is incorporated inthe book.The book includes more than 1,400 pictures, and all the seal samples selected come from precious collections ofmuseums at home and abroad, invaluable as seals marking events of the past dynasties and representative works ofvarious artistic styles. It represents the richest compendium of seal history that has so far been made available to thepublic.
　　��Hart Tianheng, Vice-president of Xiling Seal Society and Dean of the A~'t institute of Chinese Seal Carving