Yang Xie

CHINA, Jiangsu, Suzhou; Qing dynasty

Yang Xie, originally named Yang Hai and also known as Longshi, was a seal engraver from Wujiang, Suzhou. He excelled in seal engraving, calligraphy, and painting, and was an expert in epigraphy. Initially learning the Zhejiang school style, he later modeled his works after those of the Qin (221–207 BCE) and Han (206 BCE–220 CE) dynasties. Yang’s earlier seals were simple and unadorned, and his later works were neat and attractive. He authored Seals Record of Yang Longshi and Works of Longshi Daoren.
Extant Buddhist artworks by Yang include Playing in Samadhi and Chan Mind with a Righteous Nature, both of which are white-character square seals. A red-character square seal, Skies, Lakes, and Mountains for Sitting and Howling, is kept at the Shanghai Museum, while Ten Meter Mountain, Meter Tree, Decimeter Horse, Centimeter Man is a red-character square seal.