Tianwai Yi Xianren

CHINA; Qing dynasty

Tianwai Yi Xianren is one of Chan Master Duli Xingyi’s nicknames. The five characters of this seal created by him are carved within a grid of six square lots. One square is unoccupied in the center, and the strategic placement of the character for “yi” (one) above the empty lot draws the focus inward. The seal script characters in the upper row are compacted, while those in the lower row remain more loose; both sets retain an old yet elegant form. There is an amalgamation of calligraphy and seal engraving, where it can be said that the artist “maneuvered the knife as if a brush.”
Duli Xingyi was a Chan master born during the late Ming dynasty (1368–1644) in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. When he moved to Japan in 1653 to teach the Dharma, he also taught calligraphy and seal engraving. Together with Chan Master Donggao Xinyue, he was honored as one of the founding fathers of the seal art in Japan.