The research and compilation of a study on the history of Taiwan’s seal carving is the foundation for the future direction of seal carving art in Taiwan. While the development of seal carving art during the Japanese Colonial Period is an important chapter in its history in Taiwan, this era has long been ignored by the academia and the seal carving artists and researchers. During the Japanese Colonial Period, seal carving was popular and prosperous. There were many outstanding Taiwanese and Japanese seal carving artists with great seal carving works. Plentiful discussion and researches were conducted on seal carving as well as collections of seal imprints. Many seal carving societies were active and dynamic at that time. Various exhibitions, competitions and publications were therefore often held. Thus, the study on the development of Taiwan’s seal carving history during the Japanese Colonial Period is significant.
This study first reviews and discusses the papers on the development of seal carving art in Taiwan published since the Japanese Colonial Period until now. It analyzes the published papers in the past and compares and verifies the outcomes and conclusions. It specifically focuses on the collections stored in the National Taiwan University Library, the National Taiwan Library and the National Palace Museum Library. The reports and articles on new papers and magazines published at that time are also examined in depth. This study then discusses the development of seal carving art in Taiwan during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and provides an overview on the seal carving history in Japan. The political, economic and cultural environment in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period is also looked into. With the research on both Taiwanese and Japanese seal carving artists’ biographies and their activities at that time as the starting point, this study further investigates the seal carving artists, seal carving works, seal carving imprints, seal carving studies, seal carving societies and their exchanges and intersections. The origin, heritage, development and influences of the seal carving in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period is elucidated afterwards.
Lastly, based on the experiences and perspectives generated from the imitations of the seal carvings in the Qin and Han Dynasties, the three skills of using seal characters, the seal carvings in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the aesthetics of traditional Literati, this study is concluded with a discussion on the inheritance, performance and reflections of the seal carving development in Taiwan during the Japanese Colonial Period.