## Xiao Zai OD During this period, Gu Jingzhou began experimenting with leisure seals. "Wuling Yiren" (Recluse of Wuling) was the first leisure seal Gu Jingzhou used. At that time, having just arrived in Shanghai, the young Gu Jingzhou was full of youthful vigor and spirit, absorbing the purple clay art of past dynasties with an almost pilgrim-like devotion, distancing himself from crowds to concentrate on his research, thereby laying a solid foundation for his future achievements in purple clay art. Works bearing the "Wuling Yiren" base seal include the "Huaying Teapot," "Three-Legged High-Waisted Lifting Handle Teapot," "Cut-Lid Stone Ladle Teapot," "Square Side-Angled Teapot," "Bowl Lamp Teapot," "Zhu Clay Line Round Teapot," and "Lotus Teapot." Just as Gu Jingzhou's purple clay art career was about to advance steadily, it was affected by great social upheaval. After the outbreak of the Battle of Shanghai on August 13th and the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, Gu Jingzhou returned to Yixing, only to unfortunately contract smallpox. This brought unimaginable psychological trauma to the naturally strong-willed Gu Jingzhou, who forcibly isolated himself and devoted all his energy to making teapots and reading. At this time, Gu Jingzhou's reputation in the Yixing purple clay community was rising, and he began accepting special commissions. Simultaneously, the number of people imitating his works gradually increased. For this reason, Gu Jingzhou discarded the "Wuling Yiren" seal and carved himself a new one reading "Mansheng Taoyi" (Mansheng Pottery Art), which he stamped on works he was relatively satisfied with, consciously advancing his works toward refinement. When recalling this seal in 1979, Master Gu mentioned: "Man means beautiful. Sheng means the state between dawn and full daylight." "Works above one shi of rice used this seal, so relatively high-grade teapots all used this seal." Works from this period such as "Baokui Teapot," "Imitation Drum Teapot (Large Mouth and Shoulder)," and "Three-Legged Cloud Shoulder Ruyi Teapot" all fall within the category of what Gu Jingzhou called "above one shi of rice used this seal." Additionally, Gu Jingzhou carved two leisure seals in the style of Deng Shiru[1]: "What I Love to Play With Grows Old" and "To Have One Day of Leisure Is My Fortune," which he used for commissioned teapots including "Zangliu Teapot," "Imitation Drum Teapot (Orchid Words on the Seat)," "Large Mouth Round Belly Imitation Drum Teapot," "Imitation Drum Ruyi Teapot," and "Half-Lid Foreign Barrel Teapot." These commissions included important orders from Kuomintang General Lu Liansheng, Yixing Land Reform Office Director Fan Shunqi, and the Sixth National Banking Symposium. --- [1] Xu Xiutang and Shan Gu, *Purple Clay Master Gu Jingzhou* (Shanghai: Shanghai Classics Publishing House, April 2013 edition), p. 42. [2] Deng Shiru, 1743-1805, styled Wanbai Shanren, also known as Wanbai, Guxizi, Youhang Daoren, Fengshui Yuzhang, and Longshan Jianchang. His seal style moved freely within rules, wielding the knife like a brush, achieving a unified and natural effect. His seal inscriptions were skilled in seal script, clerical script, regular script, and cursive script, with his cursive script being particularly composed, expressing an air of unrestrained elegance within flowing vitality.