Reawakening the spirit of craftsmanship through the art of seal engraving

Nowadays, most Chinese chops or seals are produced by machines and only used to process official documents. However, the town of Sanxia in New Taipei City is home to an artisan called Wu Qi-xian (吳契憲), who is committed to restoring the ancient art of seal engraving and popularizing the aesthetic beauty of the craft.

It is Mr. Wu’s belief that seal engraving isn’t only a traditional craft but also a part of Taiwan's cultural inheritance. However, to do a good job, an artisan needs quality tools - without quality tools, how can one carve artistically beautiful seals? In the true spirit of craftsmanship, Mr. Wu not only engraves seals but also personally makes his own engraving tools.

Thanks to the hard work of Mr. Wu, many more people are approaching him for handcrafted seals, triggering a renaissance in this ancient art. Hopefully, under the guidance of Mr. Wu, this age-old skill will be passed on to future generations and carve a glorious new page in the annals of history.

以下為中文對照

現在印章的功能主要是用來處理正式的文件，印章的製作也都機械化處理，但是在新北市三峽有一位吳契憲老師，他致力恢復古法篆刻，讓篆刻不只是刻印章，更是一種藝術的展現。

吳老師的理念，是強調篆刻是一種工藝也是一種文化傳承，但工欲善其事必先利其器，如果沒有順手的工具，如何能刻出猶如藝術品般的印章，所以吳老師不只鑽研篆刻技術，連篆刻工具都十分講究，這就是匠人精神的表現。

在吳老師的努力之下，越來越多人開始找老師刻章，也讓這項技術的復興更廣為人知，我們期待在吳老師的帶動之下，能夠使這項文化技藝永續傳承，讓篆刻能夠在歷史上寫下光輝的一頁。

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