Ding Jing

CHINA, Zhejiang, Hangzhou; Qing dynasty

Ding Jing, who was also known as Dunding or Yanlin, was a seal carving artist born in Qiantang (present day Hangzhou, Zhejiang). In his craft, he was attentive and developed a style that was crisp, traditional, bold, and reminiscent of styles found in the Qin (220–207 BCE) and Han (206 BCE–220 CE) dynasties. He was known to be the founder of the Zhejiang school of seal carving and was regarded as the best of the Eight Masters of Xiling. He was also skilled in calligraphy, poetry, and painting, and was fond of metal and stone carved tablets. He authored several books including Record of Wulin Metal and Stone Carvings.
Ding was good friends with Mingzhong Daheng and produced several well-known seal works for him including West Lake Chan Master and a seal titled with his namesake. Additional works by Ding include Senior of Qianchingpo Yuting, which is kept at the Zhejiang Provincial Museum in Hangzhou, as well as Use Poems to Work for Buddha and Lay Practitioners and Monastics. His calligraphic work, Seven-Character Verse, is exhibited at the National Palace Museum in Beijing.