With a history of thousands of years, making seals with clay can be dated back to as early as before the Spring and Autumn period when our ancestors engraved characters on pottery. However, making seals with the Yellow River mud is little known. In the intangible cultural heritage learning base of Yushan Academy in Licheng District of Jinan, Wu Chengkun, an ICH inheritor of the Yellow River Chengni seal making, told the interview crew that the Yellow River Chengni seal enjoys a unique position in the contemporary calligraphy, painting and seal engraving circle due to its distinctive raw material and firing method. The seal is made through a dozen of procedures, including taking mud, elutriation, filtration, preparation, precipitation, ageing, kneading, shaping, airing, trimming, polishing and sintering. It has drawn broad attention as it integrates the long-standing pottery culture and the seal engraving art.

Wu Chengkun is engraving characters on the Yellow River Chengni seal

Work by Wu Chengkun: Flowers in the Brocade City

Work by Wu Chengkun: Kindness