Asian Geographic - April 2018

The Chinese seal – a mainstay in the country’s

arsenal of writing supplies – is truly a resilient

piece of stationery.

So rarely do the fashions of centuries

ago remain intact today that the seal and

its relatively unchanged form make it a

remarkable survivor of modern times, Sun

Weizu remarks in the first chapter of his

2004 book Chinese Seals: Carving Authority

and Creating History. For calligraphers and

painters, the personalised device functions

much like a signature – immediately

identifying to experts and auction houses

the works of different masters.

Inscribed in 2009 on UNESCO’s List of the

Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,

this artistic engraving has for centuries

authenticated the identity of China’s emperors,

businessmen and artisans

Stamp of Authority

SEALING THE DEAL

carving history

PHOTO © WIKICOMMONS

DATA SOURCES: UNESCO, LUO PENG PENG, CHAR4U,
NATIONAL LIBRARY BOARD, CHINA HIGHLIGHTS, SUN WEIZU

heritage

“The ancestry of Chinese

seals has remained

largely unchanged ‘in its

basic form’ throughout

the centuries”

Sun Weizu, author

Seal carving is considered one of the Chinese

fine arts. Artisans were fluent in language and

calligraphy, and combined this knowledge to

create a symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing

combination of characters, landscapes and

decorative motifs (like birds and flowers)

on canvases as tiny as 12 millimetres across.

Sometimes carvings of lions and dragons

topped the seal, which could be made out

of semiprecious stones or gold for nobility.

ȑ Primitive bronze
seals are invented, with
pictographic characters
and simple patterns

ȑ The first imperial jade

seal is made for Emperor

Qin Shi Huang after the

unification of China

ȑ The use of personal

seals for non-official but

important documents

becomes common

ȑ Personal seals grow

popular among the

masses, with artists using

them to sign their work

ȑ As handwritten

signatures grow in

popularity, seals fade

from general use

1600 BcE 221 BcE 7th cEntury or latEr 14th cEntury or latEr 1980s