Chinese Calligraphy Mei Fu 美孚 Scroll by Zuo Tai-Hang 左 太行 1987

The central large characters are 美孚, Mei Fu, which is Mobil, the oil & gas corporation.  To the left, is 丁卯春香港美孚 敬贈,  which translates as "In spring 1987, A gift of Hong Kong Mobil, and it is sealed with the signature seal of Zuo Tai-Hang ( or Zuo Tai-Xing).  On the back is affixed a paper label that's signed by the artist 左 太行 ,書法 Zuo Tai-Hang calligraphy.   I'm not sure if it's supposed to be Tai-Hang or Taihang.  Presumably, this scroll was presented as a gift to a Mobil Corporation executive while visiting the Hong Kong Mobil headquarters.

At the time of this posting, the only information I have been able to find thus far on Zuo Taihang is that Zuo Tai Hang was born in 1948 in Hebei Hirayama, China,  in 1968 he worked in Mongolia,    In 1975 Mr Taihang graduated from the Beijing Iron and Steel Institute and then went on to work for the Capital Iron and Steel Plant, 1

Since 1980,  he has worked for the Beijing Economic Commission, the State Economic Commission and the National Reform Committee. He is a member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association.

For Sale  $500 usd /obo + shipping & insurance

Lowest Priced Chinese Chop Stone Seal Carving

Since I do my own Chinese ink brush painting, calligraphy, & watercolor, I needed a Chinese chop stone, or Chinese chop seal if you will, to sign my artwork with.

  I spent several days browsing around online for the best deals on Chinese seal carving, and I found the best price online for buying custom carved Chinese seals, direct from a carver in China.  Many online retailers and other online vendors specializing in art supplies to the Asian painting market have very inflated prices and charge anywhere from $50 to over $100 for a blank chop stone, and then they charge you an additional astronomical fee for the seal carving.  Worst part is, many online retailers are just middlemen acting as resellers.   You order your Chinese name seal from them at $100+, then they order from the carver at a mere fraction of what they're charging you.

Well, you can skip the middleman and order direct from a carver.   I have seen some seal carvers charging some insane amounts of money and as much as I really needed Chinese chop seals to stamp my paintings with, I wanted them as cheap as possible, but also to be a high quality product with excellent craftsmanship, and I'm happy that I have found just that, from a seal carver named Feng Zhuo in Qufu, Shangdong Province, China..  Qufu is the hometown and birthplace of Confucius.

I'm very happy with my order.  I contacted Feng Zhuo via his eBay shop and inquired about which size I needed for my name and received an immediate response.  I browsed around his online shop, chose my stones, and ordered two Chinese chop stone seals for $16 + $9 shipping to the US, with no additional charge for the carving.

A day later, Mr. Zhuo showed me a photograph of the seal's imprint, which is what you see in the upper right hand corner of this blog, which is the seal for my name, carved in Chinese seal script. I was satisfied with the results and Mr. Zhuo prepared my package for shipping, which only took 8 days to arrive from China to the East coast United States..

Feng Zhuo, who operates under the business name of Zhuo Yuan Seal Co. LTD aka Ideas For Life on eBay, is an award winning seal carver and engraver with over 10 years experience.  His service is superb, as well as the quality of his craftsmanship and materials.  I highly recommend him if you need Chinese chop stone seals carved with your name, etc.

My Chinese chop stones arrived well packed for safe travel from China to the US,  with their own traditional Chinese storage case.

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The Chinese chop seals I ordered are Baiwen, also referred to as Yin Seals, which is white characters on red background, but you may also request Chinese seal carving for Zhuwen, aka Yang Seals, which is red characters on white background, which is what I'll be ordering next.

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Unfortunately I didn't order any Chop seal paste yet, aka Yinni, or Cinnabar ink, so I am not able to show you the results of the seal inked on paper, other than the sample provided to me by Mr Zhuo.  I did however experiment by attempting to make my own mock seal paste using a thick mix of Vermillion watercolor since I just couldn't resist the temptation to try it. :)  Not too bad considering its lack of pastiness, so I can't wait til I get a Cinnabar ink tin.

In retrospect, I should have ordered any of the sets of Chinese chops that Feng Zhuo sells that include the Cinnabar ink paste.
If you order Chinese Chop Seals from Mr Zhuo, please tell him that I sent you, with high recommendations.  Who knows, maybe I'll get a discount in the future, lol.. but more importantly, I think he deserves the recognition and more business than the high priced sharks out there.

Chinese Calligraphy - Peace - Analects by Confucius - 和 - 大海書畫

Original hand painted Chinese Calligraphy.和, Peace, Analects by Confucius 
Signature seal signed 大海書畫 , Dàhǎi shūhuà, translates to Sea Painting.

和
世间谁人没
有过，莫为小事 动
干戈，和与人交受众
敬，百忍堂中有太和
万事皆以和为贵
者也仁 隆寿


PEACE
In this world, who has not offended,
One should not from mere trifles cause
Spears to be rattled, If one should mutually respect all people
In the school of the endurance of a hundred-hold, one would find peace at its center ⁽¹⁾,
If one should place peace as one's paramount in the existence of all things ⁽²⁾,
Surely such a person would attain compassion, propitiousness and longevity.

The above is a variation of a Chinese proverb containing references to the Analects by Confucius:
1) Quotation from a traditional proverb: "一勤天下无难事 百忍堂中有太和" "If one applies diligence to what one does, there is nothing that is that difficult; If one were to endure a hundred things, one would find peace".
2) Quotation from the Analects by Confucius “礼之用，和为贵 。先王之道，斯为美；小大由之。有所不行，知和而和，不以礼节之，亦不可行也”。

Translation assistance provided by Cdict.org

Lotus Flowers Painting & Poem by Mei Feng. 梅 峰

Lotus Flowers by Mei Feng, with poem in calligraphy.  Modern print, presumably from Haddad's Fine Arts, although I'm unable to confirm whether or not this is where this print originated.  Mounted and framed..

This jade green river garment permeates its pure fragrance even to the far bank, its appearance like a pavilion,  Why needs one require ten miles of lotus plants knitted together like boats in the mirror-like turbidity of water, opening as if like a meandering screen

by Mei Feng


翠薟江衣出遠汀清香冉，影亭，
何須十里蓮舟絡一鏡渾開只曲屏
梅 峰

Translation & Chinese text courtesy of Cdict.org, copyright Lita Xú Líng Kelley,
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED!

Buy the 6.75 X 11 poster version of this beautiful poem and lotus flowers print at Amazon