Seal script compilation

Author: Hong Jun Tao et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: July 1, 1998
Features:
1. The Dictionary of Seal Characters is an assembly of seal characters written and carved by famous calligraphers and seal carvers in China's history, including oracle bone script, bronze inscriptions, Shigu inscriptions, bamboo slips and silk documents, pottery inscriptions, brick and tile inscriptions, stele carvings, and other notable works. It also serves as a dictionary for checking seal characters using regular script, providing a reference for researchers in calligraphy, ancient artifacts, and ancient scripts, as well as readers interested in calligraphy.
2. This collection includes famous works of oracle bone script from the pre-Qin period to the modern era, as well as the calligraphic and seal carvings of renowned calligraphers and seal carvers. The selections are carefully chosen from existing materials, organized by character, and printed as photostats to preserve the original style and spirit.
3. The dictionary is arranged according to the Cihai radical index system, including over 4,590 regular script radicals and over 5,781 variant seal characters. Below each regular script radical, there are over 130 variant forms (marked in square brackets) and over 2,320 simplified characters (marked in round brackets).
4. The dictionary includes over 1,880 oracle bone script characters, over 9,350 bronze inscriptions, over 3,490 stone carvings, over 1,040 pottery and coin inscriptions, over 19,000 calligraphic works by famous calligraphers, and over 18,180 seal carvings. It features the calligraphic works of over 100 renowned calligraphers from various dynasties, such as Li Si of the Qin Dynasty, Li Yangbing of the Tang Dynasty, Zhao Zichang of the Yuan Dynasty, Li Dongyang and Wen Zhengming of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Shu, Deng Shiru, Wu Rangzhi, Yang Yijin, Xu Sangeng, and Zhao Ziqian of the Qing Dynasty, as well as Huang Shiling, Wu Changshuo, and Wang Fuan'an of the modern era. It also includes the seal carvings of over 300 famous seal carvers, such as Wen Peng, He Zhen, Su Xuan, Zhao Guanguang, Wang Guan, Hu Rici, Cheng Sui, Xu Rong, Xu Zhenmu of the Ming Dynasty, Ding Jing, Deng Shiru, Huang Yi, Xi Gang, Chen Hongshou, Zhao Zichen, Wu Rangzhi, Xu Sangeng, and Zhao Ziqian of the Qing Dynasty, as well as Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi, Chen Shicheng, and Wang Fuan'an of the modern era.
5. The order of seal characters in the dictionary follows the sequence of oracle bone script, bronze inscriptions, Shigu script, pottery inscriptions, coin inscriptions,, bamboo slips and silk documents, stele carvings, followed by calligraphic works, and finally ancient seals and the seals of Ming and Qing dynasty seal carvers. The seal characters are generally arranged chronologically, from top to bottom and from right to left, with larger characters aligned to the left. However, due to variations in size, there are a few exceptions in layout. Each seal character is annotated with the source of the object, the names of the calligrapher or seal carver, and consecutive numbers from the same object or by the same calligrapher or seal carver are marked only below the last character.
6. The damages on the original seal characters in this collection are not significantly restored, and efforts are made to preserve their original condition.
7. At the end of the book, there are appendices including the Stroke Index, the Bibliography, and the Index of Encoded Objects, for reference.