Collection of Ancient Seals in Ji'an

Author: Wang Qishu (Qing Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-10-01
Features: This book is a facsimile edition of "Ji'an Jiugu Yin Cun." Based on the script and engraving style, most of the seals collected in this catalog are Han dynasty seals, with some Warring States period ancient seals and seals from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It is a comprehensive and uniquely styled collection of ancient seals. The original stamped edition of "Ji'an Jiugu Yin Cun" was compiled by Wang Qishu in the 15th year of the Qianlong reign (1750 AD). Wang Qishu (1728–1799), styled Shenyi, styled Xiufeng, styled Ji'an, and self-proclaimed Seal Man, was a native of She County, Anhui Province, and held the position of a in the Ministry of War. He resided in Hangzhou for a long time. He had a peculiar fondness for antiquities and owned the Kaiven Tower, housing thousands of types of books, especially seal collecting. He collected tens of thousands of seals from the Zhou, Qin, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. He compiled 28 types of seal catalogs, including "Feihongtang Yinpu," "Han Tongyin Cong," "Han Tongyin Yuan," "Gutongyin Cong," "Ji'an Jiugu Yin Cun," "Jingleju Yin Yu," "Jinlang Yinlin," "Tuizhai Yin Lei," "Qiushi Yin Cui," "Linxueshengtang Yinpu," "Huichang Yin Wai," "Xiuzhen Yin Shang," "Chunhui Cotaang Yin Shi," and "Anzhuo Wo Yin Ji." His collections were unparalleled in both ancient and modern times. Our press holds about 13 of his compiled seal catalogs, among which "Han Tongyin Yuan" was published as a facsimile edition by our press in 1996, and "Han Tongyin Cong" was also published as a facsimile edition in 1988. This year, "Ji'an Jiugu Yin Cun" published by our press is one of them. The original stamped edition of "Ji'an Jiugu Yin Cun" with vermilion ink seals contains 32 volumes and was collected by our press from the descendants of Zhang Luan'an, a seal carver in Shanghai, in 1963. Based on the script and engraving style, most of the seals collected in this catalog are Han dynasty seals, with some Warring States period ancient seals and seals from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. The original stamped edition of "Ji'an Jiugu Yin Cun" does not annotate the inscriptions on the seals. For this facsimile publication, our press added annotations by Comrade Xu Dunde. For the convenience of readers, the annotations use standardized simplified characters, with unreadable or unclear characters marked with square brackets. Except for some rare characters, homophones, variant characters, and general ancient and modern characters are not annotated. Additionally, this book includes a very small number of seals engraved with minority ethnic scripts. As we are unfamiliar with these scripts, we have not annotated them. We apologize for any inconvenience.