From mid-September to mid-October, the HKBU Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology (JAS) organised the third Scholarship and Culture series under the title “Collected Impressions: Albums of Seal Impressions from the Songyinxuan Collection”. A total of 75 precious exhibits were on display. Two public lectures on sphragistics (the study of seals and signets), and a Taster Day were held for the public to immerse in the art of seal engraving and try their hand at making seal albums.
Officiating guests at the opening ceremony included Director of the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Professor Josh Yiu, Professor of Chinese Studies of the University of Zurich Professor Wolfgang Behr, Provost of HKBU Professor Clayton Mackenzie, Founding Director and Honorary Advisor of JAS Professor Chen Zhi and Acting Director of JAS Dr Adam Schwartz.
The exhibition showcased an array of important seal albums, including the centrepieceDing-Chou jieyu yincun(1939), a collection of seal impressions or “sealings” made from the seals owned by four major Chinese collectors, who suffered tremendous loss from the aerial bombardment of the Zhejiang region in the Ding-Chou year (1937). They gathered what remained of their seal collections to make theDing-Chou jieyu yincun, which is hailed as a representative album on all the major schools of seal carving in late imperial China. The copy on display is the twelfth of the 21 copies ever produced, and the only one in any local collection. Another feature of the exhibition is the works of Huang Shiling (1849-1908), master seal engraver and founding father of the Yishan School, all the more precious as they are original sealings and not merely printed reproductions.
On the Taster Day of seals and albums over 100 members of the public attended. Besides a demonstration of seal engraving, participants were given the opportunity to make their own stamps, seal impressions and rubbings, title their seal albums and practise water calligraphy. Two guided tours were also arranged on that day to help visitors reach a better understanding of the exhibits and seal albums.
The exhibition was generously supported by Mr Lam Cheung-chung, local collector and the owner of Songyinxuan Studio, who lent some of his most treasured items in his prized collection to the Academy. Mr Lam also conducted a public lecture on “Differentiation between Original Seal Impressions and Zinc Plate Reproductions”, outlining the brief history of seal albums and the study of their editions while telling occasional colourful anecdotes about how he acquired some of the pieces.
With the speaker's authorization, video of the lecture has been uploaded to the HKBU Library website. All are welcome to watch the video of the lecture by clicking here.
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