Seal Script Anthology (Volume 1 & 2)

Author: Hong Jun Tao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-07-01
Features:
1. The Compendium of Seal Script is an assembly of seal script characters written and carved by renowned calligraphers and seal carvers in Chinese history, including oracle bone script, bronze inscriptions, Shigu stone inscriptions, bamboo slips and silk documents, pottery inscriptions, brick and tile inscriptions, stele carvings, etc. It also serves as a dictionary for checking seal script using regular script, providing reference for calligraphy researchers, ancient artifact researchers, paleographic researchers, and readers who are interested in calligraphy.
2. This compendium collects famous works of oracle bone script and other scripts from the pre-Qin period to the modern era, as well as the calligraphic works and seals of renowned calligraphers and seal carvers. The selections are made from existing materials, organized by character, with photocopied and pasted images to preserve the style and spirit of the original works.
3. This compendium is arranged according to the Cihai radical index system, including over 4,590 regular script radicals and over 5,781 seal script variant characters. Below each regular script radical, there are over 130 variant characters (marked in square brackets) and over 2,320 simplified characters (marked in round brackets).
4. This compendium includes over 1,880 seal script oracle bone characters, over 9,350 bronze inscriptions, over 3,490 stone carvings, over 1,040 pottery and coin inscriptions, over 19,000 calligraphic works by calligraphers, and over 18,180 seal carvings by seal carvers. Renowned calligraphers include Qin Lizhi, Tang Liangbing, Yuan Zhao Zian, Ming Li Dongyang and Wen Zhengming, Qing Wang Shu, Deng Shiru, Wu Rangzhi, Yang Yisun, Xu Sangeng, Zhao Ziqian, and modern Huang Shiling, Wu Changshuo, Wang Fuan'an, among over 100 others. Renowned seal carvers include Ming Wen Peng, He Zhen, Su Xuan, Zhao Guanguang, Wang Guan, Hu Rici, Cheng Sui, Xu Rong, Xu Zhenmu, Qing Ding Jing, Deng Shiru, Huang Yi, Xi Gang, Chen Hongshou, Zhao Zichen, Wu Rangzhi, Xu Sangeng, Zhao Ziqian, and modern Wu Changshuo, Qi Baishi, Chen Shicheng, Wang Fuan'an, Deng Sanmu, among over 300 others.
5. The order of seal script styles in this compendium is arranged as follows: oracle bone script, bronze inscriptions, Shigu stone inscriptions, pottery inscriptions, coin inscriptions, (alliance 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. Seal script 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 script character is annotated with the source of the object, the names of the calligrapher or seal carver, and if consecutive numbers come from the same object or the same calligrapher or seal carver, they are marked only under the last character.
6. Any damage to the original seal script characters in this compendium is left unaltered to maintain their original state.
7. At the end of this compendium, there are appendices including the Stroke Index, the Bibliography, and the Catalog Code of Referenced Objects, for reference.