Zhao Ziqian Seal Collection

Author: Gao Huimin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Zhao Ziqian (1829–1884), a native of Huji, Zhejiang. He was styled Zishu, also known as Yifu, and bore the sobriquets Beigan, Tiesan, Wumen, Lengjun, Hanliao, Ziqian, Meidian, and Laoshi Ren, among others. He excelled in calligraphy, painting, and seal carving, and his seal carving was immortalized in the history of seal art for being included in the "Four Masters of Late Qing" or the "Six Great Masters of Late Qing." His works on the study of inscriptions and stone tablets include "Supplement to the Records of Inscriptions from All Under Heaven," "Notes on the Different Characters of the Six Dynasties," "Double Hooked Inscriptions from Erjin Daitang," and "A Series of One Thousand Seven Hundred Twenty-Eight Cranes Seen from Above," among others. His miscellaneous writings include "Remnants of Poems from Beigan," "Miscellaneous Notes from Zhang'an," and "Idle Talks from Yonglu," among others. He was also renowned under the names "Erjin Daitang" and "Kujianshi."
Zhao Ziqian was described as "possessing extraordinary talent and extraordinary quick-wittedness from a young age." It was said that "at the age of one, he could already hold a brush and write; as he grew older, he could recite books after reading them once. He also enjoyed deep and profound thinking, often presenting new ideas to his teachers, who could not answer him. From his early childhood to his youth, he was already considered a scholarly prodigy" (as seen in Zhao Shouyu's "Biography of My Late Father"). However, his early maturity and extraordinary talent did not bring him much fortune: on one hand, his family's decline and the failure of lawsuits ultimately led to the loss of his family's property, forcing him to sell calligraphy and paintings and to teach as a tutor at an early age, as well as to "spiritually nourish himself with the resonant sound of his reading, which was like the ringing of metal and stone." On the other hand, Zishu "was filled with loneliness and resentment, often expressing himself through laughter, ridicule, and scathing criticism. His poems and prose were all aimed at being novel, shocking, and startling, which led to his dissonance with the world." He was regarded as "eccentric and strange," making him incompatible with society and causing him many misfortunes in his official career. Zhao only passed the imperial examination for the jinshi at the age of thirty and failed the imperial examinations three times after that. By the age of forty-four, he was invited by the governor Liu Kunyi to leave the capital and take up the position of chief editor of the "Comprehensive Gazetteer of Jiangxi." He later served as the magistrate of Poyang, Fengxin, and Nancheng. His life was fraught with hardships, and he remained frustrated and unsuccessful, passing away at the age of fifty-six.