Liu Xihuai: Carry Forward Traditional Chinese Culture, Spread Charm of Seal Engraving Art

LINSHU, China, July 12, 2024 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/–

Seal engraving is a craft art that combines calligraphy (mainly seal script) and engraving, mainly expressed in the specific form of seals. For millennia, artists have concealed historical culture and the spirit of the times in stone seals. Liu Xihuai is a cultural inheritor who takes root in the countryside and chronicles the times through the technique of seal engraving.

Image: Corner of Liu Xihuai’s studio

Born in a remote village named Liuxunhui Village in Linshu County, Shandong Province, Liu Xihuai grew up surrounded by the rich local culture. Influenced by the rural culture, Liu Xihuai developed a passion for writing and painting from a young age. During the Spring Festival, his father always asked him to write couplets, attracting neighbors to join in the fun. Reluctantly, he would comply, eventually gaining the reputation of a “scholar” in the village and laying an artistic foundation for his exploration of seal engraving. Later, Liu Xihuai became captivated by the red-and-white combination in seal engraving. For over 30 years, he continuously purchased calligraphy and seal engraving books to study seal engraving works by renowned artists, ultimately reaching the realm of “diligently studying seal engraving, and being intoxicated with the stones as companion.”

Image: Seal engraving works of Liu Xihuai

In Liu Xihuai’s small courtyard, the calligraphy and seal engraving characters seen everywhere, as well as the various seal images displayed in the house, are filled with a profound cultural atmosphere. The neatly arranged boxes of seals witness Liu Xihuai’s decades-long daily seal engraving practices. His seal engraving style is bold and vigorous, often likened to the act of splitting stones with a knife. His full white characters, delicate red characters, and meticulous white characters draw inspiration from Han seals, exuding a deep and dignified elegance. Gradually, he developed a rigorous, ancient, neat, and elegant seal style, characterized by delicate red characters, neatness, elegance, and skill, often compared to exquisite gold and jade.

Image: Stone carvings of Liu Xihuai

Currently, a vast array of remarkable masterpieces and seals created by Liu Xihuai, such as Portrait Seals of 56 Ethnic Group, Picture of Hundred Harmonies, and Picture of Longevity, are treasured by domestic and foreign art museums, galleries, and collectors, including the Military Museum of China. His works have been incorporated into various calligraphy collections such as National Soul Chinese Calligraphy Works Collection and the Artistic Life pictorial.