He Zhen, also known as Zhou Cheng, Chang Qing, Xue Yu (1541 – 1606) was a Chinese artist during the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, who specialised in carving personal seals. Along with his teacher

Wen Peng Wen Peng (, 1497–1573), also known as Shou Cheng and San Qiao, was a maker of personal seals during the Ming dynasty. He was born in Shanghai and raised in Suzhou, the son of painter Wen Zhengming. Employed as a lecturer by the Guozijian ( ...

, he was one of the first seal-engravers to use soapstone as a medium for his work. He Zhen was from Wuyuan County, but spent much of his time in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

. He had a wide-ranging influence, and founded the Huizhou (Xingyuang) or Wan (Anhui) school of seal-carving. He's work aspired to an antique, ancient appearance, and he was known to chip or otherwise artificially weather his seals to create the impression of age. He created this effect by exploiting natural fracture lines in the stone, or by emphasising the knife-marks made whilst incising the inscription. His calligraphy attempted to echo that of the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

, and he used the simplicity of that script to ameliorate the elaborate stylistic flourishes of the popular Yuan-style calligraphy that had previously been used for Ming-era seals.

References

{{Reflist Chinese seal artists Ming dynasty artists 1541 births 1606 deaths People from Wuyuan County, Jiangxi