Deng Shiru's Clerical Script Poetry Comments on Ao Taojun

Author: Deng Shiru
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-07-01
Features: Deng Shiru (1743---1805), originally named Yan, styled Shiru, also known as Wanbo, styled Wanbai Mountain Man, also styled Wanbai, Guhuanzi, Youjie Daoren, Fengshui Fisherman, Longshan Woodcutter, etc., was from Huaining, Anhui. Some classified him as the Anhui School, while more people revered him as the "Deng School" due to his outstanding contributions to the history of seal carving. Deng Shiru grew up in poverty and had a low social status throughout his life. He once said, "I never had the chance to study when I was young and experienced all kinds of hardships. At the age of 13 or 14, I secretly liked books. At the age of 20, my grandfather took me to Shouzhou, and I was already able to teach young children. Now that I am old, I wander and beg for a living, and people do not treat me as someone who can read." Deng Shiru pioneered the use of small seal script and inscriptions from stone inscriptions in seal carving, expanding the scope of reference for seal carving. He developed his own robust and graceful style in seal carving, rising prominently in the field of seal carving at the time, and can be said to have formed a tripartite balance with the Anhui and Zhejiang schools. Deng Shiru's influence extended to contemporaries such as Bao Shichen, Wu Rangzhi, Zhao Ziqian, Wu Zi, Hu Shu, and Xu Sangeng. In the history of the development of seal carving art, Deng Shiru was an outstanding master. Surviving works include "Wanbai Mountain Man's Seal Carving Random Creations," "Wanbai Mountain Man's Seal Spectrum," and "Deng Shiru's Seal Collection."