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Seal (Chinese)
Encyclopedia
A seal, in an East Asian context, is a general name for printing stamps
and impressions thereof that are used in lieu of signature
s in personal documents, office paperwork, contracts, art, or any item requiring acknowledgment or authorship. China
, Japan
, Taiwan
, Korea
, and Vietnam
currently use a mixture of seals and hand signatures, and increasingly, electronic signatures.
Chinese
seals are typically made of stone
, sometimes of metal
s, wood
, bamboo, plastic, or ivory, and are typically used with red ink
or cinnabar
paste . The word 印 ("yìn" in Mandarin, "in" in Japanese and Korean, pronounced the same) specifically refers to the imprint created by the seal, as well as appearing in combination with other ideographs in words related to any printing, as in the Japanese word "insatsu". The colloquial name chop, when referring to these kinds of seals, was adapted from the Malay
word cap during the colonization of the Straits Settlements
, and is still used to refer to rubber stamps.
s used in Babylonia to make impressions on clay tablets.
(although hard wood or precious metal could also be used), and were originally square in shape. They were changed to a rectangular form during the Song Dynasty
, but reverted to square during the Qing Dynasty
.
The most important of these seals was the Heirloom Seal of the Realm
, which was created by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shihuang, and was seen as a legitimising device embodying or symbolising the Mandate of Heaven
. The Heirloom Seal was passed down through several dynasties, but was lost by the beginning of the Ming Dynasty
. This partly explains the Qing Emperors' obsession with creating numerous imperial seals - for the Emperors' official use alone the Forbidden City
in Beijing
has a collection of 25 seals - in order to reduce the significance of the Heirloom Seal.
These seals typically bore the titles of the offices, rather than the names of the owners. Different seals could be used for different purposes: for example, Emperor Qianlong had a number of informal appreciation seals [乾隆御覽之寶] used on select paintings in his collection.
The most popular style of script for government seals in the imperial ages of China (from Song to Qing) is the jiudie wen ("ninefold script"), a highly stylised font which is unreadable to the untrained.
The government of the Republic of China
(Taiwan) has continued to use traditional square seals of up to about 13 centimetres each side, known by a variety of names depending on the user's hierarchy. Part of the inaugural ceremony for the President of the Republic of China
includes bestowing on him the Seal of the Republic of China and the Seal of Honor.
The seal of state of the People's Republic of China
is a square, bronze seal with side lengths of 9 centimetres. The inscription reads "Seal of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China". Notably, the seal uses the relatively modern Song typeface rather than the more ancient seal scripts, and the seal is called a yìn (印), not a xǐ (玺), in a nod to modernity. Ordinary government seals in the People's Republic of China today are usually circular in shape, and have a five-pointed star in the centre of the circle. The name of the governmental institution is arranged around the star in a semicircle.
There are two types of seal paste depending on what base material they are made of.
Plant-based paste tends to dry more quickly than silk-based pastes because the plant extract does not hold onto the oil as tightly as silk. Depending on the paper used, plant pastes can dry in 10 to 15 minutes. The more absorbent the paper is, the faster it dries as the paper absorbs most of the oil. Also, plant pastes tend to smudge more easily than silk pastes due to the loose binding agent.
The paste is kept covered after it has been used, in its original container (be it plastic or ceramic). It is kept in an environment away from direct sunlight and away from intense heat to prevent it from drying out.
When the seal is pressed onto the printing surface, the procedure differs according to plant or silk based paste. For silk based paste, the user applies pressure, often with a specially made soft, flat surface beneath the paper, and rocks it forward and back, left and right slightly. For plant based paste, the user simply applies light pressure. As lifting the seal vertically away from its imprint may rip or damage paper, the seal is usually lifted off one side at a time, as if bent off from the page. After this, the image may be blotted with a piece of paper to make it dry faster, although this may smudge it.
Most people in China possess a personal name seal. Artists, scholars, collectors and intellectuals may possess a full set of name seals, leisure seals, and studio seals. A well-made seal made from semi-precious stones can cost between 400 and 4000 yuan
.
Seals are still used for official purposes in a number of contexts. When collecting parcels or registered post, the name seal serves as an identification, akin to a signature. In banks, traditionally the method of identification was also by a seal. Seals remain the customary form of identification on cheques in Mainland China
and Taiwan
but not in Hong Kong
where signatures are required. Today, personal identification is often by a hand signature accompanied by a seal imprint. Seals can serve as identification with signatures because they are difficult to forge (when compared to forging a signature) and only the owner has access to his own seal.
Seals are also often used on Chinese calligraphy works and Chinese painting
s, usually imprinted in such works in the order (from top to bottom) of name seal, leisure seal(s), then studio seal. Owners or collectors of paintings or books will often add their own studio seals to pieces they have collected. This practice is an act of appreciation towards the work. Some artworks have had not only seals but inscriptions of the owner on them; for example, the Qianlong emperor had as many as 20 different seals for use with inscriptions on paintings he collected. Provided that it is tastefully done (for example, not obscuring the body of the painting, appropriate inscription, fine calligraphy, etc.), this practice does not devalue the painting.
Seals are usually carved by specialist seal carvers, or by the users themselves. Specialist carvers will carve the user's name into the stone in one of the standard scripts and styles described above, usually for a fee. On the other hand, some people take to carving their own seals using soapstone and fine knives, which are widely available and is cheaper than paying a professional for expertise, craft and material. Results vary, but it is possible for individuals to carve perfectly legitimate seals for themselves.
As a novelty souvenir, seal carvers also ply tourist business at Chinatown
s and tourist destinations in China
. They often carve on-the-spot or translations of foreign names on inexpensive soapstone
, sometimes featuring Roman characters. Though such seals can be functional, they are typically nothing more than curios and may be inappropriate for serious use.
Determining which side of the seal should face up may be done in a number of ways: if there is a carving on top, the front should face the user; if there is an inscription on the side, it should face to the left of the user; if there is a dot on the side, it should face away from the user.
Once seals are used, as much paste as possible is wiped from the printing surface and off the edges with a suitable material. The seals are kept in a constant environment, especially seals made of sandalwood or black ox horn. Tall thin seals are best kept on their sides, in case they should wobble and fall down. More important seals, such as authority and society seals are encased or wrapped in a golden silk cloth to add more protection.
In Japan
, seals in general are referred to as or . Inkan is the most comprehensive term; hanko tends to refer to seals used in less important documents.
The first evidence of writing in Japan is a hanko dating from AD 57, made of solid gold
given to the ruler of Nakoku
by Emperor Guangwu of Han
. At first, only the Emperor and his most trusted vassal
s held hanko, as they were a symbol of the Emperor's authority. Noble people
began using their own personal hanko after 750, and samurai
began using them sometime in the Middle Ages. Samurai were permitted exclusive use of red ink. After modernization began in 1870, hanko finally came into general use throughout Japanese society.
Government offices and corporations usually have inkan specific to their bureau or company, and which follow the general rules outlined for jitsu in with the following exceptions. In size, they are comparatively enormous, measuring 2 to 4 in (5.1 to 10.2 cm) across. Their handles are often extremely ornately carved with friezes of mythical beasts or hand-carved haku bun inscriptions that might be quotes from literature, names and dates, or original poetry. Some have been carved with square tunnels from handle to underside, so that a specific person can slide his own inkan into the hollow, thus signing a document with both his own name and his business's (or bureau's) name. These seals are usually stored in jitsu in-style boxes under high security except at official ceremonies, at which they are displayed on extremely ornate stands or in their boxes.
For personal use, there are at least four kinds of seals. In order from most formal/official to least, they are: 'Jitsu in', 'Ginko in', 'Mitome in', and 'Gago in'.
A is an officially registered seal. A registered seal is needed to conduct business and other important or legally binding events. A jitsu in is used when purchasing a vehicle, marrying, purchasing land, and so on.
The size, shape, material, decoration, and lettering style of jitsu in are closely regulated by law. For example, in Hiroshima, a jitsu in is expected to be roughly 1/2 in, usually square or (rarely) rectangular but never round, irregular, or oval, and must contain the individual's full family and given name, without abbreviation. The lettering must be red with a white background (shu bun), with roughly equal width lines used throughout the name. The font must be one of several based on ancient historical lettering styles found in metal, woodcarving, and so on; ancient forms of ideographs are commonplace. A red perimeter must entirely surround the name, and there should be no other decoration on the underside (working surface) of the seal, though the top and sides (handle) of the seal may be decorated in any fashion from completely undecorated to historical animal motifs to dates, names, and inscriptions.
Throughout Japan, rules governing jitsu in design are so stringent and each design so unique that the vast majority of people entrust the creation of their jitsu in to a professional, paying upward of US$20 and more often closer to US$100, and will use it for decades. People desirous of opening a new chapter in their lives—say, following a divorce, death of a spouse, a long streak of bad luck, or a change in career—will often have a new jitsu in made.
Several magazines are published for collectors, hobbyists, and professionals.
The material is usually a high quality hard stone, and far less frequently deerhorn, soapstone, or jade. It's sometimes carved by machine. When it's carved by hand, an in tou ("seal blade"), a mirror, and a small specialized wooden vice are used. An in tou is a flat-bladed pencil-sized chisel, usually round or octagonal in cross-section and sometimes wrapped in string to give the handle a non-slip surface. The in tou is held vertically in one hand, with the point projecting from one's fist on the side opposite one's thumb. New, modern in tou range in price from less than US$1 to US$100.
The jitsu in is always kept in a very secure place such as a bank vault or hidden carefully in one's home. They're usually stored in thumb-sized rectangular boxes made of cardboard covered with heavily embroidered green fabric outside and red silk or red velvet inside, held closed by a white plastic or deerhorn splinter tied to the lid and passed through a fabric loop attached to the lower half of the box. Because of the superficial resemblance to coffins, they're often called "coffins" in Japanese by enthusiasts and hanko boutiques. The paste is usually stored separately.
A is used specifically for banking; ginko means "bank". A person's savings account passbook contains an original impression of the ginko in alongside a bank employee's seal. Rules for the size and design vary somewhat from bank to bank; generally, they contain a Japanese person's full name; a Westerner may be permitted to use a full family name with or without an abbreviated given name, such as "Smith", "Bill Smith", "W Smith" or "Wm Smith" in place of "William Smith". The lettering can be red or white, in any font, and with artistic decoration.
Most people have them custom-made by professionals or make their own by hand, since mass-produced ginko in would offer no security. They are wood or stone and carried about in a variety of thumb-shaped and -sized cases resembling cloth purses or plastic pencil cases. They are usually hidden carefully in the owner's home.
Banks always provide stamp pads or ink paste, in addition to dry cleansing tissues. The banks also provide small plastic scrubbing surfaces similar to small patches of red artificial grass. These are attached to counters and used to scrub the accumulated ink paste from the working surface of customers' seals.
A is a moderately formal seal typically used for signing for postal deliveries, signing utility bill payments, signing internal company memos, confirming receipt of internal company mail, and other low-security everyday functions.
Mitome in are commonly stored in low-security, high-utility places such as office desk drawers and in the anteroom (genkan) of a residence.
A mitome ins form is governed by far fewer customs than jitsu in and ginko in. However, mitome in adhere to a handful of strongly observed customs. The size is the attribute most strongly governed by social custom. It is usually the size of an American penny or smaller. A male's is usually slightly larger than a female's, and a junior employee's is always smaller than his bosses' and his senior co-workers', in keeping with office social hierarchy. The mitome in always has the person's family name, and usually does not have the person's given name (shita no namae). They are often round or oval, but square ones are not uncommon, and rectangular ones are not unheard-of. They are always geometric figures. They can have red lettering on a blank field (shu bun) or the opposite (haku bun). Borderlines around their edges are optional.
Plastic mitome in in popular Japanese names can be obtained from stationery stores for less than US$1, though ones made from inexpensive stone are also very popular. Inexpensive prefabricated seals are called . Prefabricated rubber stamps are unacceptable for business purposes.
Mitome in and lesser seals are usually stored in inexpensive plastic cases, sometimes with small supplies of red paste or a stamp pad included.
Most Japanese also have a far less formal seal used to sign personal letters or initial changes in documents; this is referred to by the also broadly generic term hanko. They often display only a single hiragana
, kanji
ideograph, or katakana
character carved in it, They are as often round or oval as they are square. They vary in size from 0.5 to 1.5 cm (0.196850393700787 to 0.590551181102362 in); women's tend to be small.
are used by graphic artists to both decorate and sign their work. The practice goes back several hundred years. The signatures are frequently pen names or nicknames; the decorations are usually favorite slogans or other extremely short phrases. A gago in can be any size, design, or shape. Irregular naturally occurring outlines and handles, as though a river stone were cut in two, are commonplace. The material may be anything, though in modern times soft stone is the most common and metal is rare.
Traditionally, inkan and hanko are engraved on the end of a finger-length stick of stone, wood, bone, or ivory, with a diameter between 25 and 75 mm (0.984251968503937 and 3 in). Their carving is a form of calligraphic art
. Foreign names may be carved in rōmaji, katakana, hiragana, or kanji. Inkan for standard Japanese names may be purchased prefabricated.
Almost every stationery store, five-and-dime store, large book store, and department store carries small do-it-yourself kits for making hanko. These include instructions, hiragana fonts written forward and in mirror-writing (as they'd appear on the working surface of a seal), a slim in tou chisel, two or three grades of sandpaper, slim marker pen (to draw the design on the stone), and one to three mottled, inexpensive, soft square green finger-size stones.
In modern Japan, most people have several inkan.
A certificate of authenticity is required for any hanko used in a significant business transaction. Registration and certification of an inkan may be obtained in a local municipal office (e.g. city hall). There, a person receives a "certificate of seal impression" known as .
The increasing ease with which modern technology allows hanko fraud
is beginning to cause some concern that the present system will not be able to survive.
Signatures are not used for most transactions, but in some cases, such as signing a cell phone contract, they may be used, sometimes in addition to a stamp from a mitome-in. For these transactions, a jitsu-in is too official, while a mitome-in alone is insufficient, and thus signatures are used.
was first introduced to Korea
in approximately 2nd century BCE. The remaining oldest record of its usage in Korea is that Kings of Buyeo
used royal seal (oksae: 옥새
, 玉璽
) which had inscription of Seal of the King of Ye (濊王之印
, 예왕지인
). The use of seals became popular in Three Kingdoms
period.
In case of State
Seals in monarchic
Korea, there were two types of it in use: Gugin (국인, 國印) which was conferred by the Emperor of China
to Korean kings, in sense of keeping relations between two countries as brothers(Sadae
). This was used only in communications with China and coronation of kings. Others, generally called eobo (어보, 御寶) or eosae (어새, 御璽), are used in foreign communications with countries other than China, and domestic uses. With declaration of establishment of Republic of Korea in 1948, its government created a new State Seal, guksae (국새, 國璽) and it is used in promulgation of constitution, designation of cabinet members and ambassadors, conference of national orders
and important diplomatic
documents.
Seals were also used by government officials in documents. These types of seals were called gwanin (관인, 官印) and it was supervised by specialist officials.
In traditional arts, like China
and Japan
, an artist of Chinese calligraphy and paintings
would use their seals (generally leisure seals and studio seals) to identify his/her work. These types of seals were called Nakkwan (낙관, 落款). As seal-carving itself was considered a form of art
, many artists carved their own seals. Seals of Joseon-period calligraphist and natural historian Kim Jung-hee (aka Wandang or Chusa) are considered as antiquity.
In modern Korea, the use of seals is still common. Most Koreans have personal seals, every government agency and commercial corporation has its own seals to use in public documents. While signing
is also accepted, many Koreans think it is more formal to use seals in public documents. However, in 2008 the Constitutional Court of South-Korea upheld a Supreme court judgement that a signed and handwritten will which lacked a registered seal was invalid.
Personal seals (dojang in general reference) in Korea can be classified by their legal status. Ingam (인감, 印鑑) or sirin (실인, 實印), meaning registered seal, is the seal which is registered to local office. By registering the seal, a person can issue a "certificate of seal registration" (ingam-jungmyeong-seo (인감증명서, 印鑑證明書) in Korean
) which is required documents for most of significant business transactions and civil services. The legal system of registered seals was introduced by the Japanese colonial government in 1914, however it is slated to be replaced by an electronic certification system in 2013 in order to counter fraud. While ingam is used in important business, other dojangs are used in everyday purpose such as less-significant official transactions. Thus most Koreans have more than two seals.
Korean seals are made of wood
, jade
, or sometimes ivory
for more value. State Seals were generally made of gold
or high-quality jade. Rare cases of bronze
or steel
seals are remaining.
While Chinese seals are typically used in China
, Japan and Korea, it could be occasionally used outside these countries. For example, the rulers of the Ilkhanate
, a Mongol khanate established by Hulagu Khan
in Persia, used seals containing Chinese characters in each of their diplomatic letters, such as the letter from Arghun
to French King Philip IV
and the letter from Ghazan to Pope Boniface VIII
. These seals were sent by the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty
, a ruling dynasty of China and Mongolia
, especially Kublai Khan
and his successor Emperor Chengzong.
Seal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
and impressions thereof that are used in lieu of signature
Signature
A signature is a handwritten depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a signature is a signatory. Similar to a handwritten signature, a signature work describes the work as readily identifying...
s in personal documents, office paperwork, contracts, art, or any item requiring acknowledgment or authorship. China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
currently use a mixture of seals and hand signatures, and increasingly, electronic signatures.
Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
seals are typically made of stone
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
, sometimes of metal
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
s, wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
, bamboo, plastic, or ivory, and are typically used with red ink
Ink
Ink is a liquid or paste that contains pigments and/or dyes and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing and/or writing with a pen, brush, or quill...
or cinnabar
Cinnabar
Cinnabar or cinnabarite , is the common ore of mercury.-Word origin:The name comes from κινναβαρι , a Greek word most likely applied by Theophrastus to several distinct substances...
paste . The word 印 ("yìn" in Mandarin, "in" in Japanese and Korean, pronounced the same) specifically refers to the imprint created by the seal, as well as appearing in combination with other ideographs in words related to any printing, as in the Japanese word "insatsu". The colloquial name chop, when referring to these kinds of seals, was adapted from the Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
word cap during the colonization of the Straits Settlements
Straits Settlements
The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia.Originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Company, the Straits Settlements came under direct British control as a crown colony on 1 April 1867...
, and is still used to refer to rubber stamps.
History
In the past, fingerprints and handprints were used in East Asia for this function, being first impressed in clay, then printed on paper. This has been recorded since the 3rd century BCE in China – continuing for at least a millennium, and by the 8th century CE had spread to Japan. See history of fingerprints for details and reference. An important contrast with seals is that fingerprints and handprints are associated with a person, while seals are often associated with an office, though personal seals are also very common. Earlier similar devices are the cylinder sealCylinder seal
A cylinder seal is a cylinder engraved with a 'picture story', used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally wet clay. Cylinder seals were invented around 3500 BC in the Near East, at the contemporary site of Susa in south-western Iran and at the early site...
s used in Babylonia to make impressions on clay tablets.
Types
- Zhuwen (shu bun in Japanese) (S:朱文, lit. "red characters") seals imprint the Chinese characters in red ink, sometimes referred to as yang seals.
- Baiwen (haku bun in Japanese) (S:白文, lit. "white characters") seals imprint the background in red, leaving white characters, sometimes referred to as yin seals.
- Zhubaiwen Xiangjianyin (S:朱白文相間印, lit. "red-white characters combined seal") seals use zhuwen and baiwen together
Government authorities
Emperors of China, their families and officials used large seals known as xǐ (璽), later renamed bǎo (寶, "treasure"), which corresponds to the Great Seals of Western countries. These were usually made of jadeJade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
(although hard wood or precious metal could also be used), and were originally square in shape. They were changed to a rectangular form during the Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
, but reverted to square during the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
.
The most important of these seals was the Heirloom Seal of the Realm
Imperial Seal of China
The Imperial Seal of China, or the Heirloom Seal of the Realm is a Chinese jade seal carved out of the He Shi Bi, a historically famous piece of jade.-Creation:...
, which was created by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shihuang, and was seen as a legitimising device embodying or symbolising the Mandate of Heaven
Mandate of Heaven
The Mandate of Heaven is a traditional Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers. It is similar to the European concept of the divine right of kings, in that both sought to legitimaze rule from divine approval; however, unlike the divine right of kings, the Mandate of...
. The Heirloom Seal was passed down through several dynasties, but was lost by the beginning of the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
. This partly explains the Qing Emperors' obsession with creating numerous imperial seals - for the Emperors' official use alone the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
has a collection of 25 seals - in order to reduce the significance of the Heirloom Seal.
The most popular style of script for government seals in the imperial ages of China (from Song to Qing) is the jiudie wen ("ninefold script"), a highly stylised font which is unreadable to the untrained.
The government of the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(Taiwan) has continued to use traditional square seals of up to about 13 centimetres each side, known by a variety of names depending on the user's hierarchy. Part of the inaugural ceremony for the President of the Republic of China
President of the Republic of China
The President of the Republic of China is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the Republic of China . The Republic of China was founded on January 1, 1912, to govern all of China...
includes bestowing on him the Seal of the Republic of China and the Seal of Honor.
The seal of state of the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
is a square, bronze seal with side lengths of 9 centimetres. The inscription reads "Seal of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China". Notably, the seal uses the relatively modern Song typeface rather than the more ancient seal scripts, and the seal is called a yìn (印), not a xǐ (玺), in a nod to modernity. Ordinary government seals in the People's Republic of China today are usually circular in shape, and have a five-pointed star in the centre of the circle. The name of the governmental institution is arranged around the star in a semicircle.
Name 名印
Denotes the person's name.| Name (Chinese) | Name (Pinyin) | English name | Example | Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 姓名印 | Xingming Yin | Personal Name Seal | [李小狼] or [李小狼印] | State the family and personal name of a person |
| 表字印 | Biaozi Yin | Style Name Seal | [字矗昊] or [矗昊] | State the style name of a person |
| 臣妾印 | Chenqie Yin | Subject Concubine Seal | [臣小明] (male) [妾美櫻] (female) |
Used in imperial times by imperial consorts or officials |
| 書簡印 | Shujian Yin | Simplified Word Seals | [如佩信印] | Used in letters, instead of writing well wishes by hand, the seal takes its place |
| 總印 | Zong Yin | General or Combined Seal | [大英伯明皇龍正之章] | States the personal name and the place name where he/she is from |
| 迴文印 | Huiwen Yin | Rotating Character Seal | [徐永裕印] | Same as the personal name seal, but characters are read in an anti-clockwise direction, rather than from the top-down, right-to-left. Sometimes used in writing (i.e. to sign a preface Preface A preface is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a foreword and precedes an author's preface... of a book, etc.). |
Free 閑印
Are the equivalent of today's online signatures, and can contain the person's personal philosophy or literary inclination. These can be any shape, ranging from ovals to dragon-shaped.| Name (Chinese) | Name (Pinyin) | English name | Example | Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 肖形印 | Xiaoxing Yin | Portrait Seal | N/A | Has images with no words to express the user's character |
| 吉語印 | Jiyu Yin | Lucky Sayings Seal | [日就富貴] | Has lucky sayings and proverbs |
| 黃神越章 | Huangshen Yuezhang | Exceeding Seal of the Yellow God | [黃神越章天帝神之印] | Used in ancient times on letters as a protective charm on letters to ward off wild beasts and demons of the recipient. Now used mainly as a well-wishing convention on letters to people who travel abroad. |
| 封泥 | Feng Ni | Sealing Stamp | N/A | Used to seal letters or packages, often after the sealing tag/strip has been stuck on the flap |
Studio 齋印
Carry the name of the person's private studio 書齋, which most literati in ancient China had, although probably in lesser forms. These are more or less rectangular in shape.| Name (Chinese) | Name (Pinyin) | English name | Example | Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 齋館印 | Zhaiguan Yin | Studio or Study Seal | [雅目齋] | States the name of the studio or body. This includes society and company seals |
| 別號印 | Biehao Yin | Alias Seal | [白石道人] | States aliases of the user, including artistic names, painting names and pen names. |
| 收藏印 | Shoucang Yin | Storage Seal | [松雨彗齋圖書印] | Used on books or paintings that are kept by the user. This includes appreciation seals used on paintings and books that the owner admires |
| 詞句印 | Ciju Yin | Poetry Seal | [問松消息] | Inscribed with a poem or proverb, used on paintings and suchlike. May be large or small, depending on length of inscription. |
| 花押印 | Huaya Yin | Flower Signature Seal | N/A | A mark used in place of a signature. Often small, sometimes with images, the design can be varied in style, often a stylization of a single Chinese character |
Seal paste
- SilkSilkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
: The red paste is made from finely pulverized cinnabarCinnabarCinnabar or cinnabarite , is the common ore of mercury.-Word origin:The name comes from κινναβαρι , a Greek word most likely applied by Theophrastus to several distinct substances...
, mixed with castor oilCastor oilCastor oil is a vegetable oil obtained from the castor bean . Castor oil is a colorless to very pale yellow liquid with mild or no odor or taste. Its boiling point is and its density is 961 kg/m3...
and silk strands. The silk strands bind the mixture together to form a very thick substance. It has a very oily appearance and tends to be a bright red in colour.
- PlantPlantPlants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
: The red paste is made from finely pulverized cinnabar, mixed with castor oil and moxa punkMoxibustionMoxibustion is a traditional Chinese medicine therapy using moxa, or mugwort herb. It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Tibet, and Mongolia. Suppliers usually age the mugwort and grind it up to a fluff; practitioners burn the fluff or...
. Because the base is a plant one that has been pulverised, the texture is very loose due to the fact that it doesn't bind. The appearance is sponge like and not oily and tends to be a darker shade of red.
Plant-based paste tends to dry more quickly than silk-based pastes because the plant extract does not hold onto the oil as tightly as silk. Depending on the paper used, plant pastes can dry in 10 to 15 minutes. The more absorbent the paper is, the faster it dries as the paper absorbs most of the oil. Also, plant pastes tend to smudge more easily than silk pastes due to the loose binding agent.
The paste is kept covered after it has been used, in its original container (be it plastic or ceramic). It is kept in an environment away from direct sunlight and away from intense heat to prevent it from drying out.
When the seal is pressed onto the printing surface, the procedure differs according to plant or silk based paste. For silk based paste, the user applies pressure, often with a specially made soft, flat surface beneath the paper, and rocks it forward and back, left and right slightly. For plant based paste, the user simply applies light pressure. As lifting the seal vertically away from its imprint may rip or damage paper, the seal is usually lifted off one side at a time, as if bent off from the page. After this, the image may be blotted with a piece of paper to make it dry faster, although this may smudge it.
Chinese usage
Chinese yuan
The yuan is the base unit of a number of modern Chinese currencies. The yuan is the primary unit of account of the Renminbi.A yuán is also known colloquially as a kuài . One yuán is divided into 10 jiǎo or colloquially máo...
.
Seals are still used for official purposes in a number of contexts. When collecting parcels or registered post, the name seal serves as an identification, akin to a signature. In banks, traditionally the method of identification was also by a seal. Seals remain the customary form of identification on cheques in Mainland China
Mainland China
Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...
and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
but not in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
where signatures are required. Today, personal identification is often by a hand signature accompanied by a seal imprint. Seals can serve as identification with signatures because they are difficult to forge (when compared to forging a signature) and only the owner has access to his own seal.
Seals are also often used on Chinese calligraphy works and Chinese painting
Chinese painting
Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals...
s, usually imprinted in such works in the order (from top to bottom) of name seal, leisure seal(s), then studio seal. Owners or collectors of paintings or books will often add their own studio seals to pieces they have collected. This practice is an act of appreciation towards the work. Some artworks have had not only seals but inscriptions of the owner on them; for example, the Qianlong emperor had as many as 20 different seals for use with inscriptions on paintings he collected. Provided that it is tastefully done (for example, not obscuring the body of the painting, appropriate inscription, fine calligraphy, etc.), this practice does not devalue the painting.
Seals are usually carved by specialist seal carvers, or by the users themselves. Specialist carvers will carve the user's name into the stone in one of the standard scripts and styles described above, usually for a fee. On the other hand, some people take to carving their own seals using soapstone and fine knives, which are widely available and is cheaper than paying a professional for expertise, craft and material. Results vary, but it is possible for individuals to carve perfectly legitimate seals for themselves.
As a novelty souvenir, seal carvers also ply tourist business at Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
s and tourist destinations in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. They often carve on-the-spot or translations of foreign names on inexpensive soapstone
Soapstone
Soapstone is a metamorphic rock, a talc-schist. It is largely composed of the mineral talc and is thus rich in magnesium. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occurs in the areas where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx...
, sometimes featuring Roman characters. Though such seals can be functional, they are typically nothing more than curios and may be inappropriate for serious use.
Determining which side of the seal should face up may be done in a number of ways: if there is a carving on top, the front should face the user; if there is an inscription on the side, it should face to the left of the user; if there is a dot on the side, it should face away from the user.
Once seals are used, as much paste as possible is wiped from the printing surface and off the edges with a suitable material. The seals are kept in a constant environment, especially seals made of sandalwood or black ox horn. Tall thin seals are best kept on their sides, in case they should wobble and fall down. More important seals, such as authority and society seals are encased or wrapped in a golden silk cloth to add more protection.
Japanese usage
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, seals in general are referred to as or . Inkan is the most comprehensive term; hanko tends to refer to seals used in less important documents.
The first evidence of writing in Japan is a hanko dating from AD 57, made of solid gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
given to the ruler of Nakoku
Nakoku
' was a state which was located in and around modern-day Fukuoka City, on the Japanese island of Kyūshū, from the 1st to early 3rd centuries. Much of what is known about it comes from ancient records of both China and Japan....
by Emperor Guangwu of Han
Emperor Guangwu of Han
Emperor Guangwu , born Liu Xiu, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty, restorer of the dynasty in AD 25 and thus founder of the Later Han or Eastern Han...
. At first, only the Emperor and his most trusted vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
s held hanko, as they were a symbol of the Emperor's authority. Noble people
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
began using their own personal hanko after 750, and samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
began using them sometime in the Middle Ages. Samurai were permitted exclusive use of red ink. After modernization began in 1870, hanko finally came into general use throughout Japanese society.
Government offices and corporations usually have inkan specific to their bureau or company, and which follow the general rules outlined for jitsu in with the following exceptions. In size, they are comparatively enormous, measuring 2 to 4 in (5.1 to 10.2 cm) across. Their handles are often extremely ornately carved with friezes of mythical beasts or hand-carved haku bun inscriptions that might be quotes from literature, names and dates, or original poetry. Some have been carved with square tunnels from handle to underside, so that a specific person can slide his own inkan into the hollow, thus signing a document with both his own name and his business's (or bureau's) name. These seals are usually stored in jitsu in-style boxes under high security except at official ceremonies, at which they are displayed on extremely ornate stands or in their boxes.
For personal use, there are at least four kinds of seals. In order from most formal/official to least, they are: 'Jitsu in', 'Ginko in', 'Mitome in', and 'Gago in'.
A is an officially registered seal. A registered seal is needed to conduct business and other important or legally binding events. A jitsu in is used when purchasing a vehicle, marrying, purchasing land, and so on.
The size, shape, material, decoration, and lettering style of jitsu in are closely regulated by law. For example, in Hiroshima, a jitsu in is expected to be roughly 1/2 in, usually square or (rarely) rectangular but never round, irregular, or oval, and must contain the individual's full family and given name, without abbreviation. The lettering must be red with a white background (shu bun), with roughly equal width lines used throughout the name. The font must be one of several based on ancient historical lettering styles found in metal, woodcarving, and so on; ancient forms of ideographs are commonplace. A red perimeter must entirely surround the name, and there should be no other decoration on the underside (working surface) of the seal, though the top and sides (handle) of the seal may be decorated in any fashion from completely undecorated to historical animal motifs to dates, names, and inscriptions.
Throughout Japan, rules governing jitsu in design are so stringent and each design so unique that the vast majority of people entrust the creation of their jitsu in to a professional, paying upward of US$20 and more often closer to US$100, and will use it for decades. People desirous of opening a new chapter in their lives—say, following a divorce, death of a spouse, a long streak of bad luck, or a change in career—will often have a new jitsu in made.
Several magazines are published for collectors, hobbyists, and professionals.
The material is usually a high quality hard stone, and far less frequently deerhorn, soapstone, or jade. It's sometimes carved by machine. When it's carved by hand, an in tou ("seal blade"), a mirror, and a small specialized wooden vice are used. An in tou is a flat-bladed pencil-sized chisel, usually round or octagonal in cross-section and sometimes wrapped in string to give the handle a non-slip surface. The in tou is held vertically in one hand, with the point projecting from one's fist on the side opposite one's thumb. New, modern in tou range in price from less than US$1 to US$100.
The jitsu in is always kept in a very secure place such as a bank vault or hidden carefully in one's home. They're usually stored in thumb-sized rectangular boxes made of cardboard covered with heavily embroidered green fabric outside and red silk or red velvet inside, held closed by a white plastic or deerhorn splinter tied to the lid and passed through a fabric loop attached to the lower half of the box. Because of the superficial resemblance to coffins, they're often called "coffins" in Japanese by enthusiasts and hanko boutiques. The paste is usually stored separately.
A is used specifically for banking; ginko means "bank". A person's savings account passbook contains an original impression of the ginko in alongside a bank employee's seal. Rules for the size and design vary somewhat from bank to bank; generally, they contain a Japanese person's full name; a Westerner may be permitted to use a full family name with or without an abbreviated given name, such as "Smith", "Bill Smith", "W Smith" or "Wm Smith" in place of "William Smith". The lettering can be red or white, in any font, and with artistic decoration.
Banks always provide stamp pads or ink paste, in addition to dry cleansing tissues. The banks also provide small plastic scrubbing surfaces similar to small patches of red artificial grass. These are attached to counters and used to scrub the accumulated ink paste from the working surface of customers' seals.
A is a moderately formal seal typically used for signing for postal deliveries, signing utility bill payments, signing internal company memos, confirming receipt of internal company mail, and other low-security everyday functions.
Mitome in are commonly stored in low-security, high-utility places such as office desk drawers and in the anteroom (genkan) of a residence.
A mitome ins form is governed by far fewer customs than jitsu in and ginko in. However, mitome in adhere to a handful of strongly observed customs. The size is the attribute most strongly governed by social custom. It is usually the size of an American penny or smaller. A male's is usually slightly larger than a female's, and a junior employee's is always smaller than his bosses' and his senior co-workers', in keeping with office social hierarchy. The mitome in always has the person's family name, and usually does not have the person's given name (shita no namae). They are often round or oval, but square ones are not uncommon, and rectangular ones are not unheard-of. They are always geometric figures. They can have red lettering on a blank field (shu bun) or the opposite (haku bun). Borderlines around their edges are optional.
Plastic mitome in in popular Japanese names can be obtained from stationery stores for less than US$1, though ones made from inexpensive stone are also very popular. Inexpensive prefabricated seals are called . Prefabricated rubber stamps are unacceptable for business purposes.
Mitome in and lesser seals are usually stored in inexpensive plastic cases, sometimes with small supplies of red paste or a stamp pad included.
Most Japanese also have a far less formal seal used to sign personal letters or initial changes in documents; this is referred to by the also broadly generic term hanko. They often display only a single hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
, kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
ideograph, or katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...
character carved in it, They are as often round or oval as they are square. They vary in size from 0.5 to 1.5 cm (0.196850393700787 to 0.590551181102362 in); women's tend to be small.
are used by graphic artists to both decorate and sign their work. The practice goes back several hundred years. The signatures are frequently pen names or nicknames; the decorations are usually favorite slogans or other extremely short phrases. A gago in can be any size, design, or shape. Irregular naturally occurring outlines and handles, as though a river stone were cut in two, are commonplace. The material may be anything, though in modern times soft stone is the most common and metal is rare.
Japanese calligraphy
is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. For a long time, the most esteemed calligrapher in Japan had been Wang Xizhi, a Chinese calligrapher in the 4th century but after the invention of Hiragana and Katakana, the Japanese unique syllabaries, the distinctive...
. Foreign names may be carved in rōmaji, katakana, hiragana, or kanji. Inkan for standard Japanese names may be purchased prefabricated.
Almost every stationery store, five-and-dime store, large book store, and department store carries small do-it-yourself kits for making hanko. These include instructions, hiragana fonts written forward and in mirror-writing (as they'd appear on the working surface of a seal), a slim in tou chisel, two or three grades of sandpaper, slim marker pen (to draw the design on the stone), and one to three mottled, inexpensive, soft square green finger-size stones.
In modern Japan, most people have several inkan.
A certificate of authenticity is required for any hanko used in a significant business transaction. Registration and certification of an inkan may be obtained in a local municipal office (e.g. city hall). There, a person receives a "certificate of seal impression" known as .
The increasing ease with which modern technology allows hanko fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
is beginning to cause some concern that the present system will not be able to survive.
Signatures are not used for most transactions, but in some cases, such as signing a cell phone contract, they may be used, sometimes in addition to a stamp from a mitome-in. For these transactions, a jitsu-in is too official, while a mitome-in alone is insufficient, and thus signatures are used.
Korean usage
The sealSeal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
was first introduced to Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
in approximately 2nd century BCE. The remaining oldest record of its usage in Korea is that Kings of Buyeo
Buyeo (state)
Buyeo or Puyŏ , Fuyu in Chinese, was an ancient Korean kingdom located from today's Manchuria to northern North Korea, from around the 2nd century BC to 494. Its remnants were absorbed by the neighboring and brotherhood kingdom of Goguryeo in 494...
used royal seal (oksae: 옥새
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
, 玉璽
Hanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...
) which had inscription of Seal of the King of Ye (濊王之印
Hanja
Hanja is the Korean name for the Chinese characters hanzi. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation...
, 예왕지인
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
). The use of seals became popular in Three Kingdoms
Three Kingdoms of Korea
The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium...
period.
In case of State
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
Seals in monarchic
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
Korea, there were two types of it in use: Gugin (국인, 國印) which was conferred by the Emperor of China
Emperor of China
The Emperor of China refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of Qin Dynasty of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven , a title that predates the Qin unification, the...
to Korean kings, in sense of keeping relations between two countries as brothers(Sadae
Sadae
Sadae is a Korean historical and philosophical term.It may also refer to:* Sadae , a governmental office of Taebong* Sadaejuui , a modern Korean polemical term...
). This was used only in communications with China and coronation of kings. Others, generally called eobo (어보, 御寶) or eosae (어새, 御璽), are used in foreign communications with countries other than China, and domestic uses. With declaration of establishment of Republic of Korea in 1948, its government created a new State Seal, guksae (국새, 國璽) and it is used in promulgation of constitution, designation of cabinet members and ambassadors, conference of national orders
Order (decoration)
An order or order of merit is a visible honour, awarded by a government, dynastic house or international organization to an individual, usually in recognition of distinguished service to a nation or to humanity. The distinction between orders and decorations is somewhat vague, except that most...
and important diplomatic
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
documents.
Seals were also used by government officials in documents. These types of seals were called gwanin (관인, 官印) and it was supervised by specialist officials.
In traditional arts, like China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, an artist of Chinese calligraphy and paintings
Korean painting
Korean painting includes paintings made in Korea or by overseas Koreans on all surfaces. It includes art as old as the petroglyphs through post-modern conceptual art using transient forms of light...
would use their seals (generally leisure seals and studio seals) to identify his/her work. These types of seals were called Nakkwan (낙관, 落款). As seal-carving itself was considered a form of art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, many artists carved their own seals. Seals of Joseon-period calligraphist and natural historian Kim Jung-hee (aka Wandang or Chusa) are considered as antiquity.
In modern Korea, the use of seals is still common. Most Koreans have personal seals, every government agency and commercial corporation has its own seals to use in public documents. While signing
Signature
A signature is a handwritten depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a signature is a signatory. Similar to a handwritten signature, a signature work describes the work as readily identifying...
is also accepted, many Koreans think it is more formal to use seals in public documents. However, in 2008 the Constitutional Court of South-Korea upheld a Supreme court judgement that a signed and handwritten will which lacked a registered seal was invalid.
Personal seals (dojang in general reference) in Korea can be classified by their legal status. Ingam (인감, 印鑑) or sirin (실인, 實印), meaning registered seal, is the seal which is registered to local office. By registering the seal, a person can issue a "certificate of seal registration" (ingam-jungmyeong-seo (인감증명서, 印鑑證明書) in Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
) which is required documents for most of significant business transactions and civil services. The legal system of registered seals was introduced by the Japanese colonial government in 1914, however it is slated to be replaced by an electronic certification system in 2013 in order to counter fraud. While ingam is used in important business, other dojangs are used in everyday purpose such as less-significant official transactions. Thus most Koreans have more than two seals.
Korean seals are made of wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
, jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
, or sometimes ivory
Ivory
Ivory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...
for more value. State Seals were generally made of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
or high-quality jade. Rare cases of bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
or steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
seals are remaining.
Other usage
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Japan and Korea, it could be occasionally used outside these countries. For example, the rulers of the Ilkhanate
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate , was a Mongol khanate established in Azerbaijan and Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire...
, a Mongol khanate established by Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü, Hulegu , was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of Southwest Asia...
in Persia, used seals containing Chinese characters in each of their diplomatic letters, such as the letter from Arghun
Arghun
Arghun Khan aka Argon was the fourth ruler of the Mongol empire's Ilkhanate, from 1284 to 1291. He was the son of Abaqa Khan, and like his father, was a devout Buddhist...
to French King Philip IV
Philip IV of France
Philip the Fair was, as Philip IV, King of France from 1285 until his death. He was the husband of Joan I of Navarre, by virtue of which he was, as Philip I, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305.-Youth:A member of the House of Capet, Philip was born at the Palace of...
and the letter from Ghazan to Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII , born Benedetto Gaetani, was Pope of the Catholic Church from 1294 to 1303. Today, Boniface VIII is probably best remembered for his feuds with Dante, who placed him in the Eighth circle of Hell in his Divina Commedia, among the Simonists.- Biography :Gaetani was born in 1235 in...
. These seals were sent by the emperors of the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
, a ruling dynasty of China and Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
, especially Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...
and his successor Emperor Chengzong.
See also
- Imperial Seal of ChinaImperial Seal of ChinaThe Imperial Seal of China, or the Heirloom Seal of the Realm is a Chinese jade seal carved out of the He Shi Bi, a historically famous piece of jade.-Creation:...
- Cash seal
- Seal scriptSeal scriptSeal script is an ancient style of Chinese calligraphy. It evolved organically out of the Zhōu dynasty script , arising in the Warring State of Qin...
- Seal cuttingSeal cutting (art)Seal cutting, or Zhuanke , is a kind of traditional art that originated in China, and later spread to East Asia. It refers to cutting a pattern into the bottom of the seal , rather than the sides or top.-History:In Shang Dynasty, seals started being used in the governmental systems, and they...
- Seal engravingSeal engraving (art)Seal engraving , or more precisely, the side-engraving of seal, is a kind of traditional seal arts originated from ancient China and mainly popular in East Asian countries, including South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc.. It mainly focuses on the side-surfaces of a seal, not the bottom or...
- Seal sculpture
- VermilionVermilionVermilion is an opaque orangish red pigment, similar to scarlet. As a naturally occurring mineral pigment, it is known as cinnabar, and was in use around the world before the Common Era began. Most naturally produced vermilion comes from cinnabar mined in China, and vermilion is nowadays commonly...
External links
- Chinese Seals at China Online Museum
- The Art of Chinese Chop (Seal Carving)
- History of Chinese Seal Carvings
- Art-Virtue.com History of Chinese seal making
- A chop is necessary for approving decisions relating to the operations and management of a company in China.
- Introduction to Chinese Seal Carving