Seal carving tames the ‘grouch’
Print Edition
ZHU Xingda describes himself as bad-tempered, attributing his fiery nature to the hot chilies he ate growing up in Sichuan Province. But there is one thing that brings out his most amiable persona — seal carving.
Born into a family of scholars in 1940, Zhu grew up under the influence of traditional Chinese art. As a child, he used to flatten old chopsticks and carve his name on them. It was the precursor to his love of carving on stone.
A Chinese painting is never complete without the seal of the artist stamped upon it as a personal signature. Traditionally, seals were only an artist’s name, but Zhu found that the carvings are a wonderful way to introduce foreigners to China’s rich cultural history.
So instead of carving complicated Chinese characters, Zhu draws butterflies, pandas, flowers and other everyday features on stones he creates.
Before retirement, Zhu taught history at the Shanghai No. 3 Girls’ High School for 47 years. He was also responsible for handling foreign affairs related to the school.
The high school is one of the premier educational facilities in Shanghai. Established in 1892, it was designed as an elite school for girls.
Famous alumni include the Soong sisters; Ai-ling, the wife of the richest man in the Republic of China in the early 20th century; Ching Ling, the wife of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Kuomintang Party and a forerunner of China’s anti-feudalism revolution; Mei-ling, the wife of late Kuomingtang leader Chiang Kai-shek; and Eileen Chang, an influential contemporary Chinese writer.
Because of its fame, the school has hosted many important visitors. Zhu frequently presented stone carvings as gifts to foreign visitors. One of the recipients was Hillary Clinton in 1998.
“The Foreign Affairs Office of the city government asked me to prepare gifts for Clinton,” he said. Zhu presented Clinton with three seals of Chinese characters bearing the first family’s names on them, and a fourth seal with the Great Wall as a gift for Clinton’s mother.
The First Lady used the visit to promote education for women.
“She was wearing a yellow suit,” Zhu recalled. “I stood at the front of the reception queue and presented her my gifts.”
On occasions, Zhu showed visitors how seal carving is done and invited them to try their hand at it. He first painted drawings on stones first, then let visitors do the carvings. The results were unique, personalized seals.
“They often left their own marks on blank rice paper, creating a meaningful souvenir and artistic decoration,” he said.
The famed gardens of Suzhou, in Shanghai’s neighboring Jiangsu Province, hold a special fascination for Zhu. Though he has never personally lived in the city, he has carved 170 stone seals bearing images of the gardens.
“As the saying goes, ‘Above is heaven, below are Suzhou and Hangzhou’,” he said.
“It’s easy to carve the form and appearance of a garden, but to recreate the spirit of its natural beauty requires some thinking,” he explained.
He carves at a shallow angle to create the fine details of small corners of a garden, such as bamboos seen through a window or cobblestones leading to a pond. Leaving white spaces in a carving is key to the aesthetic composition of Chinese art. Zhu wants to leave room for those who look at a seal to imagine the rest of a garden.
He uses various thickness of lines to illustrate gentleness or wildness of the scenery.
From the Humble Administrator’s Garden to the Lion Forest Garden, Zhu has carved featured attractions of all the famous gardens in Suzhou. His work has drawn the attention of the Chinese Calligraphers Association and the Chinese Artists Association.
In the past few years, Zhu has held several exhibitions.
“Amateurs like me carve just for enjoyment and to share our joy with friends,” he said.
Zhu sees beauty in everything, giving him ample inspiration for his artwork. On a trip to Japan, Zhu learned about the 365 flowers of the year and began adapting them to his carvings.
He creates an illusion of the depth and delicacy of leaves and petals. The box that he uses to house his flower seals is called the Bai Hua Yuan, or “garden of 100 flowers.”
Despite failing eyesight, Zhu perseveres with his carving. He said he wants to complete the 365 flowers.
His another project is to do carvings based on the poems of late Chinese leaders Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai.
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