Su Donghe – Chinese Seal Carver

About the Artist

Su Donghe is a distinguished contemporary seal carver whose career connects the great masters of the Jinan and Shanghai traditions. He has carved seals for many of China’s most celebrated cultural figures and even for the Thai royal palace — a career of quiet, widely honoured achievement.

Artist Introduction

Su Donghe was born in 1962 in Jinan, Shandong Province. He is a member of the China Calligraphers Association, a research fellow of the Chinese Calligraphy Art Research Institute, an artist of the Shandong Academy of Painting, and Secretary-General of the Shuyu Seal Society. From boyhood he studied painting, calligraphy and seal carving under the master Chen Zuohuang, and later learned from Jiang Weisong, the philologist and seal master, and from the celebrated carver Han Tianheng. His seals move with unrestrained vitality: sometimes archaic and rugged in a spare, open manner, sometimes rich and gently elegant. Since 1982 more than 600 of his seal works have been published in over a hundred Chinese and foreign periodicals; he has been selected for the 6th National Calligraphy and Seal Carving Exhibition, the first National Seal Carving Exhibition and other major national shows, winning some twenty important prizes. His works are collected by museums and memorial halls at home and abroad, and he has carved seals for leading figures including Hua Guofeng, Gu Mu, Zhao Puchu, Sha Menghai, Wu Zuoren, Huang Zhou and Han Meilin. In 1993, commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, he carved a 10-centimetre giant seal for the Thai royal palace, earning the praise of ministry leaders and Thai officials. He has lectured at the Shandong University of Arts, Shandong Normal University and other institutions, and his biography is included in major dictionaries of contemporary Chinese calligraphy and seal carving.

Works Appreciation

Application Scenarios

Su Donghe’s seals are an accessible entry into authentic contemporary seal carving — ideal for personal and studio seals, collection seals and cultural gifts. His master lineage and his record of carving for statesmen and museums give his works strong provenance for collectors.