Seal engraving (zhuanke 篆刻) is a highly developed, yet much understudied form of Chinese art. More than mere tools used to imprint one’s presence (commonly authorship and ownership) on a painting or work of calligraphy, seals are carefully designed works of art that express a variety of cultural and personal values.  

The course begins with an introduction to the historical and theoretical aspects of seal engraving. This is followed by an focused study of a range of seal-engraving knife methods (daofa 刀法) and the investigation of styles and compositional strategies of the special category of pictorial seal (tuxian yin 圖像印) and the explorations of new materials as expressions of self-image or identity.  

Although the majority of the course content is skill-based training, the course culminates in the course project where by students will produce a series of seals that reflects a personal way of expressing creative ideas through integrating different techniques based on a well-planned creative strategy.