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| Wang Guoping inspects the Xiling Society of Seal Arts on Friday. | China's best known engravers' society, the Xiling Society of Seal Arts, is being told to expand its brand impact and industry scale by Hangzhou party chief Wang Guoping.
Wang, secretary of the Hangzhou CPC municipal committee, urged Xiling to attract more engraving talents and enroll amateur members when he inspected the society on Friday.
The society, founded in 1904 and headquartered in Hangzhou, is the first academic society of seal arts in China and currently the largest.
The seal was originally used as a signature or sign of authority, but later came to be used by all social classes and in much of Asia. On September 30, the art of seal engraving was included on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity released by UNESCO.
Currently the elite society of 357 members is only accessible to professional engravers.
Wang said the small number of Xiling's members is "not conducive to protecting and inheriting the art of seal engraving".
"Expanding its membership does not mean lowering the threshold to the society and the entry threshold for its formal members will not be lowered. But the society can make engraving arts more popular among ordinary people by enrolling amateur members and the vast number of amateur members can be a strong backup for the development of engraving arts," he said.
He also urged the public-funded society to expand its industry scale through marketing its brand and seeking international cooperation.
Local media reported that Xiling is scheduled to launch its website China Xiling in December, an electronic trade platform where seals and seal-related products will be sold.
Xiling is considered by Hangzhou officials as one of the best brands for the historical and cultural city. The Hangzhou municipal government also plans to help Xiling build a new national seal museum, according to local officials. The venue of the 20,000-square-mesum is not yet settled.
By Guo Changdong |
