Chinese Seal Carving (Xiling Seal Society)

Chinese seal carving works stone with a blade to render Chinese characters, evolving from ancient seal-making over more than three thousand years. The Xiling Seal Society, founded in 1904 on Hangzhou's Solitary Hill, was the principal bearer organization for the inscription.

The art unites calligraphic script, composition and knife work, arranging characters within a tiny field and cutting them so red and white play against each other—blending writing, painting and carving.

In September 2009 Chinese seal carving entered UNESCO's representative list—Hangzhou's first such inscription—affirming the Xiling Seal Society's standing as an international center of seal studies.

The Xiling Seal Society sits on Solitary Hill by West Lake, the heart of research and transmission for the art.