Seal knowledge details
Common sense about seals

Before the Qin Dynasty, both official and private seals were called “Xi”. After Qin unified the six kingdoms, it was stipulated that the emperor’s seal was called “Xi” alone, and the subjects were only called “Yin”. In the Han Dynasty, there were also princes, kings, queens and queens who were called “Xi”. Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty changed the name to “Bao” because he felt that “Xi” has a close pronunciation with “Death” (some say it has the same pronunciation with “Xi”). From the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the old system was followed and “Xi” and “Bao” were used together. The Han general’s seal is called “Zhang”. After that, according to the customs of people in the past dynasties, seals include: “seal”, “seal”, “note”, “zhuji”, “contract”, “guanfang”, “stamp”, “talisman”, “deed”, “deed” , “poke” and other titles. Seals in the pre-Qin and Qin-Han Dynasties were mostly used for sealing objects and slips. The seals were placed on the sealing mud to prevent unauthorized removal and for verification. The official seal also symbolizes power. The slips in the back tube are easily turned into paper and silk, and the use of sealing them with mud is gradually abandoned. The seal is covered with a vermillion-colored seal. In addition to its daily use, it is also often used for inscriptions in calligraphy and painting, and has become one of my country’s unique works of art. In ancient times, copper, silver, gold, jade, colored glaze, etc. were mostly used as sealing materials, followed by teeth, horns, wood, crystal, etc. Stone seals became popular after the Yuan Dynasty.

[Types of seals]

Official seal: The official seal. Official seals in the past dynasties have their own systems. Not only are their names different, but their shapes, sizes, seals, and buttons are also different. The seal is issued by the royal family and represents authority to distinguish official ranks and show rank. Official seals are generally larger than private seals, more cautious, more square, and have nose buttons.

Private seal: a general term for seals other than official seals. The private seal system is complex and can be divided into various categories based on the meaning of the characters, the arrangement of the characters, the production methods, the printing materials and the composition. Name, font, and number stamp: The print is engraved with the person’s name, digit, or digit. Han people’s names have one more character, and their three characters are Yin. Those without the character “Yin” are called Yin. Since the Tang and Song dynasties, the character “Zhu Wen” has been used as the formal format for character seals, and the character “Shi” has also been added to the surname. Modern people also have pen names, which also fall into this category.

Zhaiguan Seal: The ancients often named their living rooms and studies, and often used them to make seals. Li Qin of the Tang Dynasty had a seal of “Duan Ju Shi”, which was about the earliest such seal.

Script seal: The seal is one in which the words “Qi Shi”, “Bai Shi”, and “Shuo Shi” are added after the name. Nowadays, people have people who “obsess again”, “sincerely seal”, and “pause”. This kind of seal is specially used for correspondence between letters. Collection appreciation seal: This kind of seal is mostly used to cover calligraphy and painting cultural relics. It flourished in the Tang Dynasty and was better than the Song Dynasty. Taizong of the Tang Dynasty had “Zhenguan”, Xuanzong had “Kaiyuan”, and Huizong of the Song Dynasty had “Xuanhe”, all of which were used in the imperial collection of calligraphy and paintings. For collection type seals, the words “collection”, “treasure”, “book collection”, “painting collection”, “treasure”, “secret play”, “book” etc. are often added. In the appreciation category, words such as “appreciation”, “treasure”, “pure appreciation”, “heart appreciation”, “viewing”, “eye blessing” etc. are often added. The words “edited”, “examined”, “approved”, “appraisal”, “Identification” etc. are often added in the revision type seal. Auspicious language seal: The seal is engraved with auspicious language. Such as “big profit”, “day profit”, “great luck”, “long happiness”, “long luck”, “long wealth”, “good descendants”, “long health and longevity”, “everlasting peace”, ” “Earning a thousand stones a day”, “Making a profit of tens of millions a day”, etc. all fall into this category. Xiao Xi of the Qin Dynasty wrote: “Diseases will be cured, eternal health will rest, and longevity will be peaceful.” There are also those who add auspicious words above and below their names, which are more common in double-sided seals in the Han Dynasty.

Idiom seal: It belongs to the category of leisure seal. The seals are engraved with idioms, poems, or words such as complaining, romance, Buddhism and Taoism, and are usually stamped on calligraphy and painting. Idiom seals were popular in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. It is said that Jia Sidao has “the virtuous will enjoy it later”, Wen Jia has “Zhao Xiyu is praised for his reputation”, and Wen Peng has “I compare myself to my old Peng”, all of which are Chinese in “Li Sao”. Ninja couldn’t help laughing. The idioms in the seal evolved from the auspicious seals of the Qin and Han Dynasties. They can be played at any time, but they must be meaningful and elegant, and cannot be made up randomly.

Xiao-shaped seal: Also known as “pictographic seal” and “pattern seal”, it is a general term for seals engraved with patterns. Ancient zodiac seals are generally engraved with images of people, animals, etc., and are drawn from a variety of materials, including dragons, phoenixes, tigers,

Dogs, horses, fish, birds, etc., are simple and simple. Most of the zodiac seals are written in white, some are pure pictures, and some have text. In Han seals, dragons and tigers, or “four spirits” (green dragon, white tiger, red bird, and Xuanwu) are often added around the name.

Signed seal: Also known as “monogram seal”, it is signed by someone who has carved a flower with his or her name on it, making it difficult for others to imitate, as it serves as a proof of trust. This kind of seal began in the Song Dynasty and generally has no outer frame. Most of the popular ones in the Yuan Dynasty were rectangular, usually with the surname engraved on the top and the Basiba script or monogram on the bottom, also known as “Yuan Ya” or “Yuan stamp”.

[Taboos in using seals]

When putting inscriptions and seals on calligraphy and paintings, the seal should not be larger than the characters. It is natural to put a big seal on a large area and a small seal on a small area.

The Chinese painting should be stamped directly under the inscription and straight down to the bottom corner. No corner stamps are allowed. For example, if you sign on the upper right corner, you can stamp the “Xian” seal on the lower left corner; if you sign on the upper left corner, you can stamp the “Xiang seal” on the lower right corner. If the seal of the above paragraph is close to the lower corner, there is no need to stamp the free seal.

When signing the Chinese painting chess piece, there should be no free stamps on the left and right corners. Inscribe on the upper right corner and stamp a square stamp on the lower left corner; inscribe on the lower left corner and stamp on the lower right corner with a square stamp. If there is no need to stamp the seal here, and it is forced to be stamped, it will be self-defeating.

Rectangular, round, and oblong seals cannot be placed in the lower corners of square seals. The square seal cannot be placed on the blank space at the top of the calligraphy and painting, otherwise it will take over the place. In traditional Chinese paintings, inscriptions should be straight and the characters at the end of each line should not be neatly aligned with the length of other lines. The same goes for seals.

Two seals, one square and one round, cannot match. Same-shaped prints can be matched.