The art of seal cutting, developing from Ming and Qing dynasties, has become creations of literati, not only works of craftsmen. The essence of seal cutting has been transformed from practical use into an independent art creation.
The works in this paper are created according to the principles of “rhetoric of the image.” “Rhetoric of the image” is one of the essences in graphic design. The central idea of rhetoric of the image is about using rhetoric to make people understand the visual art. Moreover, the art of rhetoric has to be presented through words. Therefore, thus paper focuses on “Sian- Jhang,” which is not only poetic but interesting. “Sian- Jhang” is mainly created to express the feelings of literati. Most of the creation materials for literati in Ming and Qing dynasties are classical articles and poetry. However, in order to keep up with the times, the works of this paper are created based on free verse, which is more familiar to the people in modern world.
Free verse is a trend after vernacular movement. In the development of free verse, “concrete poetry” was composed. Furthermore, the writing skills if concrete poetry is integrated with rhetoric. Polished by rhetoric, concrete poetry can be expressed visually better. This paper is a new attempt to explore the diversity of seal cutting under the structure of “rhetoric of the image.” “Sian- Jhang,” and “concrete poetry.” By doing the research, the researcher wants to create a signature style in the art of seal cutting.