Yinni Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Seal paste originated from the sealing clay (feng ni) of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods; at that time there was no paper, and people used bamboo slips (jiandu, bamboo boards for writing) as writing material. The 'Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons' (Wenxin diaolong) of the Liang dynasty of the Southern Dynasties (502–557) already contains a record concerning seal paste. Lu'an seal paste was created by Zhang Lu'an, a famous Shanghai seal-paste master of the early twentieth century; its making technique is distinctive and stands alone in Shanghai and throughout the Jiangnan region. Zhang Lu'an was a seal-paste master in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republic, and also one of the collectors with the richest seal-engraving materials in the country at that time; the seal catalogues he collected included more than four hundred kinds, such as the 'Shizhongshanfang Seal Compendium' (Shizhongshanfang yin ju).
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Seal paste is a coating used for stamping seals; because its main raw material, cinnabar, is bright red, in ancient times it was also called 'cinnabar paste' (dan ni) and 'seal cinnabar' (yin zhu), among other names. When transmitting official documents, a blank bamboo slip was placed over the letter, tied with cord, and then coated with clay on the outside, and a seal was impressed into the clay as a sign of closure; this clay was the sealing clay, also called 'seal paste'. After paper was invented, both bamboo slips and sealing clay fell into disuse. But people still imitated the method of sealing clay, impressing seals onto announcements, letters, and the like, using seal paste as the coating. Seal paste uses cinnabar as its main raw material: first the mugwort leaves are pounded into a cotton-wool state, then mixed with aged castor oil and cinnabar and stirred repeatedly; the resulting paste has a brilliant, eye-catching color that does not fade for a long time. During the Tang and Song periods, with the flourishing of calligraphy and painting art, the seal-paste making technique continuously advanced. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, traditional calligraphy and painting art developed widely in various regions, and seal-paste making correspondingly improved greatly; the related making technique has been transmitted to the present. The creation of Lu'an seal paste is closely bound up with the development of Shanghai calligraphy and painting. Famous painters and calligraphers such as Wu Hufan, He Tianjian, Gao Zhenxiao, and Wang Fuchang all used this seal paste exclusively. With this seal paste, even after stamping ten impressions in succession, the seal characters do not distort. Therefore, at that time Lu'an seal paste was favored by famous calligraphers and painters of Jiangnan and Shanghai, and its reputation soared. The making of Lu'an seal paste requires a natural oxidation process; its production mainly consists of three operations: grinding cinnabar, rubbing mugwort, and preparing the oil. Lu'an seal paste has a specific formula and making technique; the finished product is thin, even, and pure, fine yet highly viscous, not softening in heat nor hardening in cold, never fading, and does not bleed oil or shift color when pressed on paper, with a bright yet subdued color showing a piled, solid sense. Because this seal paste has high production costs and limited market demand, its development prospects are not optimistic. Seal paste is an indispensable item in Chinese calligraphy and painting art creation and one of the material carriers of traditional culture; protecting the seal-paste making technique is of great significance for promoting traditional culture.
Archival Process Records
The making of Lu'an seal paste requires a natural oxidation process; its production mainly consists of three operations: grinding cinnabar, rubbing mugwort, and preparing the oil.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Lu'an seal paste is a unique skill of Shanghai, following the path of literati seal engraving: Zhang Lu'an collected more than four hundred kinds of seal catalogues, and the paste was supplied exclusively to famous calligraphers and painters; Wu Hufan, He Tianjian, Gao Zhenxiao, and Wang Fuchang all specifically used it, and even ten impressions did not distort the seal characters. The formula has three operations—grinding cinnabar, rubbing mugwort, and preparing the oil—and requires a period of natural oxidation to become paste, being thin and viscous, not hardening in cold nor softening in heat. The method of transmission was originally private: Gao Shixiong studied the craft from Zhang Lu'an in 1941, and Fu Jiliang served as Zhang Lu'an's assistant in the 1950s.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yinni Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present there are only two inheritors of Lu'an seal paste, both advanced in age, and continuing to engage in paste production is somewhat difficult for them. The Shanghai Lu'an seal paste making technique, now in a state of having no successors, urgently needs protection and transmission, and the relevant parties should treat it as an important task to accomplish. Gao Shixiong (per the official inheritor archive): a representative inheritor of the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, for the seal-paste making technique (Shanghai Lu'an seal paste). Seal-paste making technician. In 1941 he studied seal engraving and seal-paste making under Zhang Lu'an. In 1953 he compiled and wrote the 'Brief Catalogue of Seal Catalogues Collected by Lu'an' (Lu'an suo cang yin pu jian mu) for Zhang Lu'an; in the autumn of 1955 he participated in the preparatory committee of the seal-engraving society—the China Society for the Study of Epigraphy and Seal Engraving—founded at Zhang Lu'an's initiative. In 1956, for the 'Lu Xun Pen-name Seal Catalogue' (Lu Xun bi ming yin pu) organized and created by Zhang Lu'an, he carved more than thirty seals. He preserved a box of seal paste made by Zhang Lu'an himself and recorded one copy of Zhang Lu'an's orally transmitted secret recipe No. 49 for seal paste. Qi Baishi long used the seal paste he made. Male, Han ethnicity, born April 1921, died January 2019, a native of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. Fu Jiliang (per the official inheritor archive): a representative inheritor of the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, for the seal-paste making technique (Shanghai Lu'an seal paste). Seal-paste making technician. From childhood he loved calligraphy and seal engraving; in the 1950s he served as Zhang Lu'an's assistant and learned the entire process of Lu'an seal-paste making. Building on Zhang Lu'an's scientific analysis of the paste formula, through practical experience he systematized it and advanced it to semi-mechanized operation. The paste he makes is pure in body, rich in elasticity, color like red satin, thick like gluten, and textured like velvet, unchanged over time. The seal characters are even and clean, with high tinting, covering, and adhesive strength; the longer the time, the more tranquil and antique the color. Liu Haisu, Zhu Qizhan, Tang Yun, Cheng Shifa, and many other famous calligraphers and painters have used the paste he made. Male, Han ethnicity, born March 1926, died November 2011, a native of Jiangyin City, Jiangsu Province.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Gao Shixiong 03-1397
- Fu Jiliang 03-1398
- Yang Xiwei 05-2829
- Fu Haixian
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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