吾丘衍

Wuqiu Yan was a literary figure in ancient China, though public information about his life is limited: his dates of birth and death, native place, and nationality are not clearly recorded. Judging from the three works held in the collection, his writing touches on seal carving and the study of antiquities, scholarly textual criticism, and poetry, and is commonly classified under literary appreciation, Eastern philosophy, and culture. Xuegu Bian and Sanshiwu Ju are often regarded as reference texts for understanding ancient seal carving and the appreciation of antiquities; their contents lean toward practical guidance and evidential inquiry, written in a concise style with the air of instructing later students. Zhusu Shanzfang Shiji shows another side of his work, his poetic composition. On the whole, Wuqiu Yan's writings are modest in scale, yet they helped organize and pass on earlier artistic experience to later learners, and they offer reference value for the study of traditional literati aesthetics and introductory knowledge of seal carving.