Wang Fu'an's commentary on the "Shuowen Jiezi" section "Mu"

Author: Wang Fudan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: April 1, 2005
Features: Wang Fudan's Shuowen Jiezi Bumoku () is preserved by our society and was previously published in print before the liberation. In 1979, for the benefit of beginners, the editor added annotations, and an article titled How to Write Small Seal Script along with illustrations were appended at the end of the volume. Wang Fudan was a renowned modern calligrapher and seal carver, and one of the founders of the Xiling Seal Society. He was from Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Originally named Shouqi, he later changed his name to Wang Ti, styled Weiji, and took the sobriquets Fudan and later Zhimi Laoren. His studio name was Miyanzhai. Born in 1880, he passed away in 1960. He excelled in seal script, clerical script, regular script, and running script, delved deeply into textual studies, and was skilled in seal carving. He dedicated his life to calligraphy, seal carving, and inscriptions on stone and metal, carving over 20,000 seals. He deeply embodied the essence of the Zhe School and further developed an elegant, composed, refined, and meticulous style, becoming a giant in the field of seal carving today. His works include Fudan Seal Collection, Miyanzhai Seal Remains, Miyanzhai Seal Script (), and Wang Fudan's Seal Script of Ruan Sizong's Lamenting the Past.
The Shuowen Jiezi has been valued by scholars and experts since its completion in the Han Dynasty and serves as a fundamental reference for learning and studying seal script. During the Xianfeng era of the Qing Dynasty, Yang Yishun and Wu Dazheng, among others, wrote Shuowen Bumoku. Some incorporated the structure of gold inscriptions (large seal script), while others drew inspiration from the brushwork of Qin edicts. Wang Fudan's Shuowen Bumoku, however, is a standard small seal script, inheriting the jade-stem style of Li Si's Qin seals and being influenced by Deng Shiru and Wu Rangzhi in the mid-Qing Dynasty. It further developed the brushwork, adding slight variations in pressure and rhythm to the smooth, round, and polished lines of the jade-stem script. Thus, it becomes richer in brushwork, with strokes that are both fluid and dynamic, balanced yet varied in structure. Its composition is dignified and meticulous, slightly more relaxed at the bottom compared to Qin stone inscriptions like the Taishan and Yingshan steles, creating a harmonious interplay of density and openness, and a lively, elegant beauty.
From the perspective of recognizing seals and learning seal carving, practicing Shuowen Bumoku can enhance one's ability to identify seals. Since most Chinese characters are composed of various radicals, mastering these radicals allows one to understand the structure of characters by their arrangement, recognizing many characters accordingly and even grasping the principles of the "Eight Types of Writing." Wang Fudan was a seal carver, and his small seal script could almost be directly used in carving, making it an excellent starting point for those learning seal carving. We believe that the publication of this book will undoubtedly be well-received by a broad readership.