Seal Carving Romance: Wuqiao's Liao Peng Inherits the Beauty of Traditional Culture

According to a report by Cangzhou Daily, more than 100 seals featuring aphorisms from The Analects, such as "A gentleman helps those in urgent need rather than the wealthy," "A gentleman is not a mere vessel," "Act with loyalty," and "Thoughts free of evil," have been collected into one volume. These beautiful and familiar sayings are carved onto exquisite seals, perfectly combining calligraphy and engraving, and showcasing the natural beauty of Chinese characters and metal-and-stone art. These seals were created by Liao Peng, a young man born in the 1980s from Wuqiao County, who carved each one stroke by stroke. Recently, the seal carving collection themed on The Analects was officially published by China Culture Publishing House.

Liao Peng, 27 years old this year, was born into a family of opera performers in Wuqiao and was influenced by his grandfather from a young age, learning to play instruments, sing, and practice calligraphy and painting. At age 6, he came with his grandfather to the then newly completed Wuqiao Acrobatics World, where Jianghu Culture City set up a special "Child Star Theater" for him. His grandfather played the instrument while he sang, astounding the audience, and he was nicknamed "Six-Year-Old Red." Over more than 20 years, Liao Peng has devoted himself to studying calligraphy, painting, and opera without pause. In 2005, he held a personal calligraphy and painting exhibition. Last year, his calligraphy and painting collection Wuqiao Acrobatics documented 12 ancient acrobatic acts on the verge of being lost. He is also a member of the Provincial Calligraphers Association and the Canghai Seal Society, actively participating in calligraphy, painting, and seal carving competitions at various levels, and winning first prize in those competitions. He studied seal carving under Xiong Boqi and is his last disciple, and is also a student in the senior research class of famous masters at Xiling Seal Engraver's Society.

Liao Peng's meticulously created works of aphorisms from The Analects are rich in brush sentiment and knife interest, with an overall extraordinary, vigorous, noble, and simple style that seems to carry the air of the Qin and Han dynasties. The character method is harmonious, and the use of the knife is bold and sharp. The composition is well-balanced in density, and the seal surface is full of dynamism, presenting a scene of vitality. "The Analects is a classic work of our country and the core text of Confucian thought," Liao Peng said. Carving The Analects in seals was his long-held idea, intended to explore the roots of Confucian thought and promote the traditional culture of the Chinese nation.

To create this work, Liao Peng spent more than three months. From selecting passages from The Analects, to consulting seal carving dictionaries for the ancient forms of each character, to preparing seal stones and focusing on carving, and finally taking impressions, photographing, and compiling for publication. Seal carving requires patience. For more than 100 nights, Liao Peng sat under the lamp, calm and composed, carving one stroke at a time.

Liao Peng explained that these seals, featuring mottos, poetic lines, and famous sayings, are called leisure seals. A seal within a square inch must accommodate dozens of characters, and calligraphy, seal script method, and composition are all crucial. On site, as his fingers gripped the carving knife and "galloped" with ease across a seal stone, one could clearly feel the spirit and passion surging beneath his quiet exterior. He paused from time to time, observing and thinking about the inch-sized metal-and-stone piece. Where the sharp seal carving knife fell, the stubborn stone blossomed into lines, and the collision of knife and stone produced a pleasant rustling sound.

"After proposing the idea of creating a seal carving collection of The Analects, I received guidance and help from many teachers. The text content of seal carving art must be correct without error," Liao Peng said. Whether it is the seal, side inscription, seal pattern, or techniques such as square and round, empty and solid, all must be refined to perfection. After teachers offered suggestions for revision, he would carve again to ensure every seal was flawless.

Enjoying the pleasure of seal carving artistic creation, Liao Peng also gained a deeper understanding and improvement of traditional culture. "Endure loneliness, cast aside temptations, focus on oneself, and only then can one achieve great things," Liao Peng said with emotion. He will continue to devote himself to research and to promoting and inheriting traditional culture.