The Brief Biography of Wu Xizai

Written and translated by Shi An

Wu Xizai(1799-1870), a great calligrapher and seal carver in the late Qing Dynasty. His original name was Tingyang and Xizai. In order to avoid the taboo of Qing Mu Zong, he changed his name to Rangzhi. In his later years, he named himself as Rangweng, old student, Walker with square bamboo, etc.

Wu Xizai

Wu Xizai was born in 1799 and died in 1870. His ancestral home was Jiangning (Nanjing now). When he grew up, he moved to Yizheng (Yangzhou now) and settled there. 

Wu was intelligent and enjoyed studying when he was childhood. He was quiet and liked thinking. He enjoyed reading and writing. At 13 years old, he got a seal of the Han Dynasty by chance. He was very excited and began to study seal cutting. In the next ten years, he tried to copy all the seal works he had seen, especially seals of the Han Dynasty, thus he had a solid foundation in the field of seal art. 

Seal "Zhang Wen Zi Yin", cut by Wu Xizai

One day at the age of 30, Wu XiZai visited a local calligrapher named Huang Yisheng  and met Huang’s good friend Bao Shichen. Wu Xizai showed his calligraphy and seal cutting works to Bao. Bao was amazed at his art talent and agreed to be his master. Then Wu XiZai invited Bao home and began to learn from him.

Bao ShiChen was a great scholar in the late Qing Dynasty. He was famous for his rich learning and was praised as "a great master". He was a calligrapher also. His master was Deng Shiru(1743-1805), a great artist from Anhui. Deng Shiru was the leader of the Wan School of seal cutting. Although Bao was Deng's student, he was not good at seal cutting actually.

Bao Shichen has been stayed at Wu’s home for three years. Bao regarded Wu as the best candidate to inherit Deng ShiRu’s art. So he presented all his collection about Deng Siru to Wu, includes Deng’s seals, calligraphy works, some albums of Deng’s seal impressions,etc. Then Wu XiZai was able to study Deng's works deeply and went into Deng's art hall later.

Seal "Yi Yu Gu Hui", cut by Deng Shiru

Since then, Wu XiZai concentrated on Deng’s art only and gave up study other seal style. "I will focus on Deng’s art until old." He said. He devoted himself to make Deng Shiru’s style to perfection. He Inherit it very well and even had innovation achievement even. When people talk about the greatest artists of Wan school in seal cutting, “Deng and Wu ” were always mentioned together.

Because of Wu's great contribution, Wan school became one of the most influential school, while another one was Zhe School.

Seal "Shu Bo", cut by Wu Xizai

Zhao ZhiQian(1829-1884), another art master of the Qing Dynasty, wrote a poem in praise of Wu Xizai: "Yuanzhu seal style began from the Song Dynasty, now Deng ShiRu is praised to be the most important artist. Deng’s seal cutting style is not disappeared. It should own to his inheritor Wu XiZhai."

Another great artist Wu Changshuo(1844-1927) said: “Wu Xizai followed Deng’s step. He lay a solid foundation on Qin and Han’s seal style. He was good at seal cutting skill. His seal works have no effeminate or winding problem. I suggest others that if he want to study Deng Shiru, he can learn from Wu Xizai first.” Wu CangShou practiced it by himself, he taught his sons with Wu Xizai’s cutting skills.

Gao YeHou, a modern painter, commented that Wu Xizai was such a high-level master that he use the carving knife like Chinese brush. 

Seal "Bo Hai Yao Shi Zheng Cang Shu Hua Yin", cut by Wu Xizai

According to Shi An’s view, Wu Xizai understood Deng Shiru’s idea very well. He sought seals from calligraphy also. He combined calligraphy skills to his seal cutting works. The lines are fluent, vigorous and beautiful, vivid and colorful. They are from seal script calligraphy, especially Xiaozhuan script. The works have strong flavor of calligraphy. The composition was ingenious and natural. The layout was appropriate and skillful. When we watch Wu’s seal works, we can found that the wide place could be walked through for a horse and the narrow part could not be inserted by a needle. Epecially the composition was very natural. 

Wu Xizai combined calligraphy and seal together on his works very well. He was skilled and varied, he used the carving knife as Chinese brush. He engraved the works by push cutting skill in most cases. And he used various cutting techniques like push, press, flap and slice very skilled and freely. It made his seal works very beautiful. Others regarded him "green out of blue" when they compared him with Deng Shiru. 

When Wu Xizai was young, he studied very hard and tried to be an official. He had taken the scientific examination for several times. He went back and forth between Yi Zheng and Tai Zhou. However, he just got a junior scholar after several attempts. He was unsuccessful on seeking official fame. But he get to know many scholars in Taizhou, such as Liu Hanchen, Cen Rong and Chen Shouwu. They went on well with each other. These friends gave him a lot help during the later years. 

In his middle age, Wu Xizai had lived in Yangzhou for more than ten years. He was famous for high achievement on calligraphy and seal cutting. He began to study painting from a famous painter named Zheng Qi, who introduced by another painter Wang Su. Wu named himself "late student". According to the records of “Nostalgia in Wu City” written by Dong Yushu of the Qing Dynasty, Wu Xizai and Wang Su lived in a nunnery of Yang Zhou together. People said widely that " Only Wu’s calligraphy can be well matched with Wang’s paintings" At that time.

A calligraphy work, by Wu Xizai 

In the 29th year of Daoguang's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1849), entrusted by Suqian Wang Xi'an from Suqian, Wu Xizai engraved the latter half of “the History of Inkstone” which compiled by Gao fenghan on jujube boards. After four years (1853), Wu Xizai moved to Taizhou in order to avoid war, and he had lived in his many friends’ homes successively, such as Yao Zhengyong (made 120 seal works for him), Wu Yun, Cen Rong, Chen Shouwu, Zhu Zhuxuan, Xu Zhenjia, Liu Luqiao (made 88 seal works for him), etc. 

In his old age, Wu Xizai made seal works less and less for the eyesight declining, and made living by calligraphy and painting. He lived alone there, no family members around. It’s not easy for the old man to escape from poor and difficult situation. Wu Xizai wrote a couplet to laugh at himself: " I have children and grandchildren but I live alone far away from them, I am old but I have to arrange everything by myself. "

Seal "Hua Mei Qi Mi", cut by Wu Xizai

In the ninth year of Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1870), Wu Xizai died of illness at the age of 71. the bright art star has been disappeared since then.

Seal "Dan Shi Can Nian Bao Chi Fan", cut by Wu Xizai

Wu Xizai, a great artist with high reputation, always poor in his life. He lived far away from his hometown alone, lived in no fixed place for many years. He lived in a small nunnery in his later years. The old artist had to make living by himself and try to escape from hunger by his calligraphy and painting works. It was such an astonished tragedy.

Although Wu Xizai was always poor and difficult always, he had made more than ten thousand seal works and written many books in his life. He had high achievement in poetry, calligraphy, painting and seal cutting. We can see hard work behind high achievements from many great artists. It’s not easy for them to be great actually. 

Wu Xizai made a seal work "Hao Xue Wei Fu(learning is happy)" with Bai Wen style. Maybe we can find his ambition from the work. 

Seal "Hao Xue Wei Fu", cut by Wu Xizai

Shi An’s mark: Most artists look spiritual satisfaction more important than material profit. It’s not easy for them to achieve balance between them. If they were focus on art, they will ignore the material profit. They keep on working hard, while regardless of poverty. Few people can be great artist and rich in the history. It should be prefect if the artist can make great achievement in art but also very rich. 

吳熙載傳

著/譯：石安

吳熙載者，晚清篆刻大家也。原名廷揚,，字熙載,，為避清穆宗載淳諱,，更字讓之,、攘之,，晚年增號讓翁,、晚學居士,、方竹丈人等。

吳氏生于清嘉慶四年（1799年）,，卒于同治九年（1870年）,，祖籍江蘇江寧（今南京），后隨父遷居儀征（今揚州），世人多以其為儀征人氏,。

熙載自幼聰慧好學,，性靜樂思，輒以讀書習字為樂事,。歲在甲戌（15歲）,，因緣際會得漢印一方，喜之,，始沉迷印藝,，后十年，遍臨所見印作,，尤以漢印為甚,，遂得印學根基。

近而立,，某日熙載游于當?shù)貢尹S乙生宅第,，恰逢黃氏摯友包世臣來訪，遂以所作書法印刻示觀,。包氏見其所作,，驚其慧能，乃收熙載為弟子,。熙載迎師寓于家中，潛心從其學焉,。

包世臣者,，晚清大學者也。學問時負盛名,，有“一代宗師”美譽,。世臣亦能書，師從皖籍大書家鄧石如,。鄧亦為印壇皖派宗主,，印有威名。包氏雖列鄧氏門墻,，卻不以印家之名顯矣,。

包吳師徒相洽三年有余，熙載而立之年（30歲）,，包氏以熙載為薪傳石如衣缽不二良才,，遂于臨別之時，命熙載跪于鄧氏畫像之前,，授其鄧氏親拓《完白山人印稿》,，傾囊相贈所藏鄧之原石印章、書法諸件。熙載得以深窺鄧氏精作,，日久遂登鄧氏之堂室,。

自此，熙載盡棄他學,，專研鄧氏書印一脈,。“篤信師說,，至老不衰”,，且能推陳出新，終成大家,。

熙載既得鄧氏印學精髓,，技藝又有青藍之譽，后人談印壇皖派大成者,，往往“鄧吳”并論,。

皖派亦因熙載之功，終為世人所重,，與西泠浙派一時瑜亮,，被后人視為明清以降文人流派印之兩大巔峰。皖派能得以卓耀當代,，影響披及后世,，熙載于其中功不可沒也。

晚清篆刻大家趙之謙有詩贊曰：“圓朱入印始趙宋,，懷寧布衣人所歸,。一燈不滅傳薪火，賴有揚州吳讓之,?！?/span>

后世印家吳昌碩云：“讓翁平生固服膺完白，而于秦漢印璽探討極深,，故刀法圓轉,，無纖曼之習，氣象駿邁,，質而不滯,。余嘗語人：'學完白不若取徑于讓翁’”。并身體力行,，癖斯者亦即有年,，且時以家訓示其（讓翁）用刀之法。

近代畫家高野侯評稱,，讓之刻印使刀如筆,，轉折處，持續(xù)處善用鋒穎，糜見其工,。

石安觀吳氏篆刻,，篆法以書入印，印從書出,，線條勁健流美,，生動多姿，具篆意,，有筆墨,；章法妙造自然，布局妥帖工巧,，有走馬容針之能,，無矯揉做作之跡，深得書印相契之妙,；其刀法精熟,，運刀如筆，變化萬端,，雖主沖刀,，然沖、切,、披,、削諸法運用自如，心手相應,，舉重若輕,，技藝臻于化境。后世印家往往視其技藝較于鄧石如有青出于籃之譽,，此評不虛。

青年之熙載,，嘗求學優(yōu)而仕,，數(shù)度赴應科考，往返儀征,、泰州兩地之間,。然時運不濟，屢試不應,，僅得生員（秀才）之名,。雖無功名，卻得以結識劉漢臣,、岑镕,、陳守吾等諸多泰州文士，交游甚契，后諸友于熙載晚年寓居泰州相助良多也,，是為后話,。

歲至中年，熙載僑居揚州,，歷時十余載,，書法治印之聲皆名重于當時，其間經畫家王素介紹,，拜名畫家鄭箕為師習畫,，自號“晚學生”。據清董玉書《蕪城懷舊錄》載,，吳氏居揚州時,，曾與畫家王素同客石牌樓觀音庵，時人以“非王畫吳書不足相配”論之,。

清道光二十九年(1849年),，受宿遷王惜庵之托，熙載以棗板續(xù)刻《硯史》（高鳳翰集撰）后半部分,。又四年（1853年）,，為避戰(zhàn)亂，熙載遷至泰州,，輾轉寓居于舊友新識之姚正鏞（為其刻120方?。窃?、岑镕,、陳守吾、朱筑軒,、徐震甲,、劉麓樵（為其刻88方印）等諸君家中,。后漸入晚年,，熙載自覺目力衰退，潤印漸少,，后遂以書畫謀生,，然終因孤老于外，未能脫貧苦困窘之境,。吳氏曾撰聯(lián)自嘲：“有子有孫,，鰥寡孤獨，無家無室,，柴米油鹽,?！?/span>

清同治九年（1870年），吳熙載因病辭世,，時年七十有一,，一代大家就此隕落。

若吳氏熙載,，負藝術盛名,，然一生清苦，常年漂泊于外,，居無定所,，晚年憩于僧舍，畫梅乞米,，以求“但使殘年飽吃飯”,豈不令人感慨如斯,？

熙載清貧如斯，一生卻治印逾萬方,，且時有著述,，詩文書畫亦得時名。由此可窺藝術大家成就背后之艱辛勞苦往往非常人所識,，誠為不易之事也,！

熙載嘗刻“好學為福”白文印,，或可見其志于斯哉,。

石安曰：予觀古今藝術大家，蕓蕓者眾,，多重情輕利,，雙全者寡也。又往往專注于藝,，物質經營往往少謀,，雖窮且益堅，困頓不減其志,，辛勞增益其能,，終得藝業(yè)大成。然藝者,，亦為人，非不食凡間煙火者也,，若能物藝兩全,，豈不美哉？,！

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