A Preliminary Study of Seal-Engraving Education in the Ming Dynasty: The Case of Peng Wen’s Sanqiao School

Abstract

Since literati began to engage with seals in the Song and Yuan dynasties, the function of seals has shifted from a primarily practical tool to an artistic medium. As literati aesthetic interest in seals took shape, schools of seal-engraving emerged by the mid- to late Ming dynasty. The notion and scope of seal-engraving education also gradually came into view. The rise and consolidation of the Sanqiao School exemplify the development of such education within literati seal-engraving. Taking the Sanqiao School as its point of departure, this article traces the formation of Peng Wen’s seal-engraving style and his approach to seal studies. It further examines how later generations received and interpreted Peng Wen’s artistic ideas, and how, in this process, a form of seal-engraving education came into being. In doing so, it elucidates the evolution of seal-engraving education in Ming-dynasty literati practice and explores its implications for contemporary seal-engraving education.