Xiling Society of the Seal Art

Xiling Seal Art Society
Chinese	西泠印社
Hanyu Pinyin	Xīlíng Yìnshè

The Xiling Seal Art Society is a Chinese arts organisation based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. It was founded in 1904 but with antecedents dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties, is one of China's most important traditional stone seal engraving associations.

Other possible translations include the Xiling Seal Society, or Hsi-leng Seal Society, or the Xiling Seal Engraving Society, or the Xiling Seal Engraver's Society, or the Xiling Epigraphy Society.

During the Yuan dynasty, the most famous seal engraver was the scholar and artist Wang Mian, who first used soap stone for seal making.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, seal engraving flourished in China, especially in the Yangtze River Delta region, where there was a continuous rich artistic tradition. There were many different schools of seal making, and many independent artists specialized in seal cutting, seal script calligraphy, and the selection of seal stones.

In South China, the major three schools of seal engraving during these periods were Hui School (whose artists mainly from current Anhui Province), Zhe School (whose artists mainly from current Zhejiang Province), and Hai School (which was mainly developed in Shanghai, and whose major artists were from current Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces).

The Hui School is considered as already a mature seal engraving school as early as the Ming dynasty, especially during the Jiajing and Wanli eras. The most famous seal makers during the early phase of this school were Xiu Ning (休宁) and He Zhen, who were active in the mid–late Ming dynasty. During the Kangxi-Yongzheng-Qianlong era of the Qing dynasty, the second climax of this appeared, and the most typical representative artist during this period was Cheng Sui from She County, Anhui. In the late Qing dynasty, this school had its third climax of development, and influenced more engravers not only those who were from Anhui. Typical figures of the phase three were: Huang Shiling (黄士陵), Yi Dachang (易大厂), Qiao Dazhuang (乔大壮), Wang Fu'an (王福庵) and Li Yisang (李尹桑).

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