The history of Chinese seal carving can be dated back to the time of the
Chow-Han Dynasty. However, from the time after Han to Ching ( i.e. the Tong
, Sung , Yuen Dynasty ) the use of seal for personal identification was
less common. The art of seal carving then came to a dormant period in history.
Till Ching Dynasty, an atmosphere of renaissance gradually emerged along
with the trend of archaeology development. Many educated people followed
the old style and put seal-prints on their finished works of painting, writing
and poetry.
For the last 3,000 years they have been used in official, private, even
magic spheres.
The receipt of the seal signifies the
conferral of the Mandate of Heaven.
He who has the seal possesses the
Mandate of Heaven, in other words,
he has been given the right to rule
the empire.
Private seals
Private seals are naturally unregulated, therefore they show the largest variety
in content, shape, size, material and calligraphy. Despite of their varied
characteristics, they can still be categorized based on their use.
Seals with names, pen names, pseudonyms etc on them were used as a signature
by people in their private life. This is how artists sign their works and
letters. Chinese literati commonly used a number of different pen names so
identifying a person's name from a seal can be a tricky business.
Collector seals were mainly used for the purpose of authenticating pieces
of art. Thus a seal of a famous collector or connoisseur would become an integral
part of a work of art and could substantially raise its value. Thus in the
course of several centuries, some Chinese paintings became covered by a dozen
of different seals.
The rest of private seals can be conveniently categorized under the umbrella
term "leisure seals". The inscription on these seals is usually
a short text which is either a quote from a famous writing or just some saying
that the owner thought important.
Typical inscriptions are "Respect fate", "Attain wisdom",
"Respect", "Use loyalty and humanity in your affairs"
etc. One could compare these seals to signatures with a quote at the end of
email messages where the people append some saying they consider valuable
at the end of their message.
Join us and make your own seal !
