Ving Tsun Kuen Kuit Lecture in Rio

The page recounts a lecture in Rio on the Ving Tsun Kuen Kuit Suen Hak project. It presents the collection as a major artistic and martial undertaking, explains the meaning of “Suen Hak” as seal engraving, and describes the cataloging of stone seals and the planned publications for the project.

Reading notes

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• The lecture took place during a three-day event in Rio de Janeiro, with heavy rain and traffic delaying the opening speaker, Master Leonardo Mordente.
• The author says the Ving Tsun Kuen Kuit Suen Hak collection is highly praised, but still not fully studied.
• Leonardo Mordente opened by asking what people knew about the translation of “Ving Tsun Kuen Kuit Suen Hak.”
• He explained that “Suen Hak” means seal engraving.
• The lecture showed different stone seals by Moy Yat, Kwong Chi Nam, and other artists.
• The seals were presented as examples of archaic ideograms and of aesthetic balance in the use of space.
• The author describes a blue notebook used to catalog seals and notes that its pages are designed to absorb the seal ink.
• According to the lecture, artists stamp the pages to build a portfolio, especially when a seal may be sold.
• The notebook’s construction leaves space between pages so the ink does not mark the back side.
• The author received one of these catalog notebooks as a gift from Leonardo Mordente.
• Posters were offered so practitioners could appreciate the seals through their different compositions.
• The project aims to raise the collection to the level it deserves and make editions available to the interested public.
• The proposed series includes a poster, a new translation, a facsimile catalog with transcription and translation, a complete edition, and a deluxe edition.
• During the lecture, Mordente showed a seal of Leung Jaan that, according to the author, contained a dragon, tiger, phoenix, and turtle.
• The author says Mordente left several posters with him for people in Rio who want to buy them.