Si an 思安
This seal is typical of the carving style of Qi Baishi (1864-1957). The two characters 思安 can be translated into English as “long for peace/tranquility.” They’re written in traditional Chinese style from right to left. His style, often attributed to early work as a wood carver, is distinctive.
This is what the two characters, in the same reversed order, look like in a modern standard dictionary-style font. Compare these with those shown above and below.
And these are the same two characters in more generic seal script style (in fact, the character on the right hand side is taken from another seal by Qi Baishi). Though this is one way they might have been written during the Qin dynasty, there was then little standardization and so many variations were possible for each character. Using your imagination, you might be able to see how the modern characters above are derived from these ancient originals. But you can also see how much Baishi has stylized the two words.
This is an ink rubbing from the side of the seal stone with the artist’s name “Baishi” carved along the upper left edge. Why did he put the characters here and in this size? What would this look like if, in the same proportions, it was written in black ink on a large white hanging scroll?
The carved “face” of the seal below is turned on it’s side to show the relationship between seal, as stamped with red ink, and colophon, or side inscription, which is traditionally carved into the left side.
Let’s go back and dig a little deeper into Qi Baishi’s technique. Though there are two characters, they’re connected in such a way that it’s hard to tell them apart; in particular the white line down the middle—does it seem to belong to the right hand character or to the left hand character?
Look too at the dark spaces in and around the words—no two shapes are alike. It’s all about variety; he uses straight lines, curves, and diagonals. He emphasizes these diagonals, in different directions, in order to create movement. Some negative areas are small, some are large. Lines aren’t smooth and the outer border is rough and altogether missing in some places, merging with the characters and giving everything an antique look. The rounded corners add to the well-worn look.
Even without knowing Chinese writing or the meaning of the words, this can still be enjoyed as a miniature work of abstract design in red and white [the actual size of the stamped seal is 2.7 x 2.7 cm.].