Chinese Seal Art
中国印章艺术主要是指篆刻艺术。篆刻艺术将汉字书法、章法与在方寸大小的石头上镌刻的用刀方法结合起来，融为一体，从而形成了一门独立的艺术。
Chinese seal art mainly refers to the carving of seals. Seal carving is an integration of calligraphy, composition and the handiwork of the engraver, and it is a unique part of Chinese culture.
篆刻艺术史可追溯到2000多年前的春秋战国时代。这些古印由专门工匠制作，或凿或铸，印文精细，章法生动。印文分朱文和白文两种，其特征是：朱文印边栏宽阔，白文印有界格。印面内容有官职、姓名、吉语和肖形图案等，形状则大小不一，有长方形、方形、圆形和其他各种异形。这些古印是人们在交往时用做权力和凭证的信物。
Chinese seal carving can be dated back about 2000 years ago to the "Spring and Autumn" era. Ancient seals were made by specialized craftsman. Whether engraved or cast, the seal characters were exquisite and vivid. The characters on these seals were of two types: red and white. The red seal characters had a wider rim, while the white seal characters had a bounded grid. The characters in these seals described one's official position, name; as well as containing lucky words, Zodiac logo and others. The faces of the seals were made into various shapes, such as rectangles, squares, circles or other strange shapes. These seals were used as a symbol of authority and as well as a warrant for social communication.
秦代在方形的官印上加“口”字格和“田”字格，在长方形印上加“日”字格。
In the Qin Dynasty, the “口” and "田" word lattices were added in square official seals, while the “日” word lattice was added in the rectangular official seals.
汉代印章艺术成就极高。在官印中，有的称章或印章，私印中有的称信印或印信。现在通常使用的印章一词，即来源于此。汉印无论从内容到形式，比以前都更为丰富。这时流行以缪篆体入印，这种字体与汉代隶书的兴起有关系，结体简化，笔画平整方直。汉印中还有以鸟虫书入印的，装饰性很强，是古代的一种美术字体。汉印分铸、凿两种。西汉印章多为铸造，其中以新莽时期的印章制作最为精美。铸印庄重雄浑。东汉印章以凿印最有特色。因印章常来不及铸造，就在印坯上临时刻凿，印文不加修饰，也很有特色。凿印健拔奇肆。铸印和凿印这两种风格都对后世的篆刻产生了很大的影响。
Seals in the Han dynasty reached a high level of artistic achievement. The official seals in the Han dynasty were called zhuan or zhuanke, and are still used today. Seals in the Han dynasty were more abundant than ever before both in content and form. At that time, zhuan script was very popular, and was related to the rise of the Li script, of which the body is simpler and the strokes are straight and square. Bird-and-Insect script, took insects, fish, birds and other animals as its shape and was the most common kind of script on seals in the Han dynasty. This kind of script is highly decorative and is an ancient kind of art. Seals in the Han dynasty were mostly made by casting and engraving. Seals in the Western Han Dynasty were mostly casted seals, and seals of the Xinmang period were particularly exquisite. The engraved seals from this time were solemn and grand. The engraved seals in the Eastern Han Dynasty were more distinctive. Sometimes, when a seal was urgently needed, the engravers just carved on the temporary billet without adding any decoration, which created a very characteristic look. The engraved seals were vigorous and firm, and both of the two styles of casting and engraving have had a very great influence on the development of this carving art.
古代使用印章时还出现一种封泥，又名泥封。为了严守机密和防止杜伪，个人在简牍的绳结处加上软泥，然后盖上印章。由于印章在泥上的挤压，封泥形成了宽边和套边，白文玺印在泥上钤盖后还会出现变“白”为“朱” 的特殊效果，很有特色。
In ancient times, when seals were used, there was also a need for the ancient mud chop, also known as a mud closure. In order to keep things strictly secret and to prevent copying, the seals would be stamped with a special identification in the mud.
三国两晋南北朝时代，开始使用朱砂调制成印泥，封泥之法废止。隋、唐、五代直至宋、元时代官印，印面增大。同时，在这个时期，书法绘画都有了长足的进展人们开始在书画作品上加盖印章，实用印章开始向篆刻艺术发展。
The use of mud closures came to an end in the Northern and Southern Dynasties era, when Vermilion inkpad was used. In the long time period from Sui, Tang and Wudai Dynasties to the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the surface of seals became bigger and bigger. Meanwhile, calligraphy and painting made considerable progress, and people began to place seals on their paintings. The creation of seals for practical purposes gradually developed a creation for the purpose of art.
金代官印
Chinese Seal in Jin Dynasty
元代印章
Chinese Seals in the Yuan Dynasty
古代印章制作须由专门的工匠进行，所用的材料质地多为金属和玉石等。这些印材虽然耐磨，但是硬度高，比较难刻。明代以后，以石头为印章材料大行其道，文人和艺术家用刀刻印的时代来了。
Ancient seals were produced by specialized craftsmen and usually made from metal and jade. These materials were abrasion-proof, but too hard for carving. After the Ming Dynasty, stone seals became popular. Eventually the time came when writers and artists began to carve with knives.
到明清时代，中国印章艺术进入最繁荣时期。这个时期流派很多，风格各异。同时，这也是一个大家辈出的时代，文彭、何震、归昌世、李流芳、程邃、朱简、苏宣、王声、董涧、沈风等都很有名。
Chinese seal carving entered its most prosperous period during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Talented people with different styles arose during this period. They included artists such as Wen Peng, He Zhen, Gui Changshi, Li Liufang, Cheng Sui, Zhu Jian, Su Xuan, Wang Sheng, Dong Jian, Shen Feng, and others.
文彭刻的印章
Seals Engraved by Wen Peng
何震刻的印章
Seals Engraved by He Zhen
清代金石学盛行，同时历代金石文物的大量出土，因而扩大了篆刻家的视野。清初程邃最著名。中叶开始，丁敬和邓石如等人使印章艺术进入兴盛时期。
Epigraphy was prevalent in the Qing Dynasty. As large numbers of ancient stone relics were unearthed, the vision of carving artists was also gradually expanded. Cheng Sui is a representative in the early period while Ding Jing and Deng Shiru brought seal-engraving art into a new flourishing era in the middle period of the Qing Dynasty.
丁敬刻的印章
Seal Engraved by Ding Jing
丁敬名印
Famous Seal by Ding Jing
如果你想学习刻印章，不妨先找练习写反字，因为要先在印面上写好反字，再把笔画刻掉（白文）或留下（朱文），盖出来的引文才是正的。篆书虽然比楷书难认识一点，但是因为这种字体左右、上下经常对称，写反字倒是比较容易一些。
When you engrave a seal, you have to carve the characters back-to-front. The characters on a seal can be divided into those that are engraved in the stone and those that are carved in relief.. Although seal characters seem more difficult than written characters , they often have symmetrical structures, so it can be much easier to write them back-to-front.
开始练习的时候，不一定要用石头。石头毕竟难刻一些，磨起来也有点麻烦。你可以用萝卜或土豆代替石头来进行练习。当然，在萝卜、土豆上刻笔画和在石头上刻笔画的感觉是很不一样的，不过毕竟也是印章啊。去找一块切好的土豆试一试吧。先把土豆或萝卜加工出一个方形、长方形或圆形截面，然后在上面写好反字，再用专门的刀子把笔画刻掉或把笔画以外的地方刻掉，用印泥（涂点墨水、墨汁之类的东西也可以啊，实在不行也可以用口红！）蘸一蘸印面，再在纸上盖一下，你刻的印章效果就出来了。
Carrots or potatoes can be ideal tools to practice with for those who are beginners at seal engraving. . Though obviously different from carving with stones, the basic craft technique is the same. Take a potato to start with, cut it into either a square, rectangular or circular section, and write characters back-to-front on it. After that carve the strokes out with special knife, press the potato against an ink pad (or even just some regular ink or lipstick!), and then press to paper. Then, presto- there is your DIY seal!