Wen Peng

Background

He was born in Shanghai and raised in Suzhou, the son of painter Wen Zhengming.

Career

Wen founded the Sanqiao (Wumen) School of seal engraving. However, after creating some experimental seals using soapstone, he switched to using stone for his work, and his later career focuses exclusively on this material. Prior to this, seals had been carved from ivory, bronze or pottery.

Wen also developed the modern recipe for the red paste (Chinese: 朱砂.

Pinyin: zhūshā) used to create the seal"s stamp. He recommended a mixture of ground cinnabar, castor oil and moxa.

Achievements

• Employed as a lecturer by the Guozijian (in both Beijing and Nanjing), he was widely regarded as the founder of modern seal-carving. He Zhen, founder of the Huizhou (Xingyuang) school of seal-engraving, was Wen"s student.