Wu Xizai

CHINA, Jiangsu, Yizheng; Qing dynasty

Wu Xizai was a seal-carver, calligrapher, and painter from Yizheng, Yangzhou. He studied calligraphy under Bao Shichen and Deng Shiru, and mastered four different scripts, becoming especially proficient in seal and clerical scripts. His calligraphic works include Daoist Yellow Court Classic, written in running script, is kept at the Shanghai Museum, and Six-Character Couplet, in clerical script, is collected by the National Palace Museum in Beijing.
Also an outstanding seal engraver, Wu’s work was highly influential. He was renowned on the same level of his famous contemporaries, Huang Shiling, Zhao Zhiqian, and Wu Changshuo. Buddhist seals by Wu include All is Created in the Mind, Truth Follows the Way of Nature, and In Fact There are No Dharmas.