I want to carve a seal. Is there anyone in Nanjing who can carve it better?

Impressions of Wei Tongsheng

Oddly enough, some young friends often ask me for seals, probably because they see me occasionally graffiti and use seals, and I know a few ancient characters. But I can't use a knife at all, and my eyesight is poor. Helpless, he went to the street to find someone to carve it. In the past few years, I have spent a little money traveling from Liulichang in Beijing, Antique City in Zhengzhou, Cultural Street in Tianjin, to Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, and Hefei. The income can be used for oneself or given to others. There are some of them that are justifiable, and you can even see these works by private carvers in calligraphy and seal cutting publications.

I have two principles when looking for someone to treat seals: First, I don’t ask for help from everyone. The famous man did it with one wave of his hand, leaving a few red or white, straight or curved lines. He then offered a price of a thousand yuan, which was too expensive. Second, don’t look at the title. There is a sign in front of the printing shop saying "Member of the Calligraphers Association", but I never fall for it. Just take a look at his ready-made items first. The art is acceptable and the price is reasonable, so you can enter calmly.

Let’s give a few examples.

The "China Seal" of the 2008 Olympic Games is awesome! How much is it worth? Who knows? But I think it's not that good: in terms of lines, it doesn't feel like a knife. In terms of image, he has the softness of a dancer but not the strength of an athlete. He is only suitable as a symbol of a cabaret hall. In terms of conception, people all over the world will only think that it is borrowed from the figures on the "safe passages" in the corridors of buildings and halls to guide people to escape. This is what the national players are talking about.

There was an old man in Qingliangshan, Nanjing who did seal printing for me. The price was three to five yuan per word, which was the lowest price in the city. Without fame, he naturally has no title. But in my opinion, it has some skill. A few years ago, I got an inkstone in Tunxi, Anhui Province, and drafted one or two hundred words of my own. I asked him not to type it out, but to write it out casually using the method of engraving margins. I also lent him an oracle-bone inscription dictionary to enjoy, as a courtesy. I want to ask for less money. Unexpectedly, after the carving was completed, there was movement and order, just like a miniature running script. Is it a good idea? I feel ashamed to say that, each word is about 15 cents. This is said of the nameless engraver.

He had an apprentice, Xiao P, who was even more miserable. At that time, he only had a bald pen, a teacup with ink (not even an inkstone), and a table the size of two laptops. There are openly replicas of "Wuzhongqi" on the street. The middleman got a couplet from Chaotian Palace Antique Market for ten to eight yuan. What now? Wu Zhongqi returned to Daoshan, and his boss, the old man who made a living by carving seals, also left, but he "debuted". Almost most of the "Wu Zhongqi" paintings in calligraphy and painting shops in Nanjing are in his handwriting, and the asking prices have risen to three digits. Although anyone who knows a little bit about Wuzhongqi knows that it is a fake, and it is a low-quality fake. But I believe there are still many people who "recognize" it, otherwise why would it be sold everywhere? Even the plaques of many calligraphy and painting shops use his "Wu Zhongqi". When I say this, I am definitely not trying to show off the fake stuff. I just want to say: there are many people with acceptable skills among those who are not famous and have no titles.

I went to buy Xianzhang once, and the store was quite impressive. I thought the store sign had three titles, and the store owner was also good. I picked one and asked the price, and the answer was "three hundred."

"Twenty-eight." I counteroffered.

"Why?" the owner asked.

I laughed but didn’t answer.

The owner was a little anxious: "It doesn't matter if you don't buy it, you have to tell me why you don't give out twenty-eight more or less, right?"

"One, this is an imitation, Xu Sangeng. Two, The taste of Wu Dai Dangfeng is not authentic. Three, it is generally worth five yuan. The stone is generally worth five yuan. If you add three yuan, the total is twenty-eight. "

As soon as he finished speaking, the shopkeeper lowered his head and walked back inside.

Okay, it’s time to talk about Wei Tong’s victory.

A few days ago, I had to deal with printing debts. Due to financial constraints and because the appreciation level of the person receiving the seal was not very high, I went to Nanjing to inspect the Confucius Temple. Turning around in a big circle, there are more than a dozen carvers who are all young. He is only one or two years old. Looking at his seal, he pursues strength and simplicity, but unfortunately it is quite rough, and his face looks ferocious. Asked about the price, it was not low. Reluctantly, I made another large circle and walked into the East Market and West Market at the back of the palace. I saw the "Tong Sheng Yin House", hesitated for a moment, and walked in.

The winner of Wei Tong is from Jinling. He is about forty years old, with a pair of rimless glasses and a quiet appearance. There are many carved hands in Nanjing Confucius Temple, and Wei is one of them. Wei Tongsheng is no better than others, who mainly deal in stones, teapots, and handicrafts. They set up a small stall at the door to carve seals for Chinese and foreign tourists, and they also operate a business. Wei Tongsheng specializes in seal seals. The shop has a decent appearance, and there is a signboard at the door with the words "Member of Jiangsu Province Calligraphers Association", which is not exempt from the custom and is good for attracting customers.

There are dozens of mirror frames around the store, all inlaid with the four characters of the calligraphy work "Tong Sheng Seal Engraving". If you look closely at the inscription, you will know that it was written by Han Tianheng and others. Looking down at the samples, we can see that there are several types of iron wire seal script, Yuan Zhu script, Manchu and Bai script, and Han official seals, which are quite good. Looking around the entire Confucius Temple, it can be said that it stands out from the crowd.

I am a person who always wants to spend a small amount of money to buy high-quality products. I have never believed in signboards, because many "calligrapher" characters are unflattering. After entering the door, I first asked the price, and the answer was "Twenty per word." For some reason, his demeanor was a bit cold, and he didn't have the formulaic smile of an ordinary businessman. I thought to myself, Runge is not cheap in Confucius Temple, but the control sample is also worth it.

I first took out an ordinary Shoushan stone and said, "Two words, Yuan Zhu Wen." Then I added, "Can you please write a sample? If you are not satisfied, don't engrave it, okay?"< /p>

Wei Tongsheng looked at me and said nothing, but immediately took a piece of paper and made a rough draft.

After looking at it for a while, I thought it was okay, so I said, "Please pay attention. If you are satisfied, I will carve a few squares."

"Sit for a while, it will be ready soon. "

I said quickly: "No hurry, I'll pick it up next week. If it's okay, I'll carve a few more."

I'll see you in a week. Not bad at all. The lines are smooth, the trend is strong and flexible. The strokes are of a writing nature, with meticulous attention to detail at the beginning, middle and end of the stroke, which reminds one of Wu Rangzhi. The two characters are one upright and the other upright. The upright one is quiet and the other is active. The knots are tight at the top and loose at the bottom, and the layout is dense and dense. I think Wei Tongsheng understood Deng Shiru's saying that "there is no air in the air, but the horse can move in the sparse". Although there are still shortcomings, after all, the price is here.

"The lines are good and have a sense of calligraphy." I complimented casually.

"I worked hard when I was young." He replied calmly.

This is the truth. I believe that his seal cannot be faked before your eyes.

Next, several inscriptions were carved one after another, including Zhu Wen, white inscriptions, famous seals and leisure seals. One of the stones on one side of the stone was particularly hard and was ordered to be engraved with the character "Zhang Ping". Fearing that it would not be known, the characters were left in traditional Chinese.

A few days later, when I checked my address book, I suddenly found that "Zhang Ping" was "Zhang Ping", and I immediately called Wei Tongsheng to change the word. He replied: "It has already been carved, but it can be re-engraved."

Originally, I was responsible for the typo, and the stone was purchased in Zhangjiajie and is extremely hard, but he promised to re-engrav it for free. What a kind person.

While talking, Wei Tongsheng showed me the works published by several parties. The chapter is large, with many characters, iron seal script, fine inscriptions, thin and strong lines, smooth and even, compact structure and strict layout. This kind of work requires careful calculation of the layout and careful design of the composition. The position, shape, and size of each character, as well as the concession, interspersion, and expansion and contraction between characters must be fully understood before proceeding. One stroke after another, one must be meticulous and careful, just like embroidery. It is indeed time-consuming, laborious and very difficult.

After leaving the "Tongsheng Seal House", I turned around and looked at the "Member of the Jiangsu Province Calligraphers Association" sign at the door, thinking that Wei Tongsheng was qualified.

Of course Wei Tongsheng still needs further improvement. Some of the directions engraved for me are not very satisfactory. It is difficult to make a living by engraving seals carefully. This may be because in order to make money, one cannot throw away "failures" like seal carvers do. The difference between the production of goods by carving seals and the creation of works of art by seal carvers is here. We cannot be harsh on the many people who make a living in this way, including Wei Tongsheng. In addition, the shapes of some small seal characters carved by Wei Zhi are not standardized enough, which seems to indicate that knowledge still needs to be strengthened.

If you want to get a practical seal without spending a lot of money, I think the "Tongsheng Seal House" in the East and West Market of Nanjing Confucius Temple is the place to go.