Seal (east Asia)
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| Seal (east Asia) | |||||||
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| A Baiwen name seal, read up-down-right-left: Ye Hao Min Yin (lit. "Seal of Ye Haomin") | |||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese: | 印鑑 or 圖章 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese: | 印章 | ||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||
| Kanji: | 判子 or 印鑑 or 印章 | ||||||
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| Korean name | |||||||
| Hangul: | 도장 or 인장 or 인감 | ||||||
| Hanja: | 圖章 or 印章 or 印鑑 | ||||||
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A Chinese seal is a seal or stamp containing Chinese characters used in East Asia to prove identity on documents, contracts, art, or similar items where authorship is considered important.
Chinese seals are typically made of stone, sometimes of wood, and are typically used with red ink or cinnabar paste (Chinese: 朱砂; pinyin: zhūshā). The word 印 ("yìn") specifically refers to the imprint created by the seal. 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.
East Asia currently uses a mixture of seals and hand signatures, and increasingly, electronic signatures. [1] But notably in China, Japan, and Korea, seals remain commonly used instead of signatures when doing business or other procedures, and in certain cases, only seals are acceptable.
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[edit] Types
- Zhuwen (S:朱文, lit. "red characters") seals imprint the Chinese characters in red ink, sometimes referred to as yang seals.
- Baiwen (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.
[edit] Government authorities
Emperors of China, their families and officials used large seals known as Xǐ (璽), which corresponds to the Great Seals of Western countries. Xǐ were usually made of jade (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, and officially renamed bǎo (寶, "treasure"). The Forbidden City in Beijing currently has a collection of 25 bǎo from the Qing Dynasty.
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 appreciation seals [乾隆御覽之寶] used on select paintings in their collection.
The most important of these seals was the Heirloom Seal, 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.
The most popular style of script for government seals in the imperial ages (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 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 [2] 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 yin (印), not a xi (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 semi-circle.
[edit] Personal
There are many classes of personal seals:
[edit] Name 名印
Denotes the person's name. These are almost always square.
| Name (Chinese) | Name (Pinyin) | English name | Example | Use |
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| 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 of a book, etc). |
[edit] 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 |
[edit] 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 that the user uses. These include artistic names, painting names, pen-names, etc |
| 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] | Has poems or proverbs inscribed, used on paintings, etc. Size can range from big to small depending on how long the inscription is |
| 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 |
[edit] Seal paste
There are two types of seal paste depending on what base material they are made of.
- Silk: The red paste is made from finely pulverized cinnabar, mixed with castor oil 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.
- Plant: The red paste is made from finely pulverized cinnabar, mixed with castor oil and moxa punk. 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 and rocks it about 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.
[edit] Chinese usage
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 - ¥4000 (Chinese 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 paintings, 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), this practice does not devalue the painting.
Seals are usually carved out 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 Chinatowns 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.
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 the edges off 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 it should wobble and fall down. More important seals, such as authority and society seals are encased or wrapped in a silk cloth to add more protection.
[edit] Japanese usage
In Japan, seals in general are referred to as inkan (印鑑 or いんかん?) or hanko (判子 or はんこ?). There are two kinds of seals: a personal seal, called mitome-in (認印 or みとめいん?) and an officially registered seal, called jitsu-in (実印 or じついん?). A registered seal is needed to conduct business, for example, opening an account in some banks or purchasing land.
Traditionally, inkan are engraved on the end of a stick of hard wood, bone, or ivory, with a diameter between 25 and 75 mm. 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.
In modern Japan, most people have several inkan. Men's seals are generally larger than those of women, and highly ranked executives generally have larger hanko than their subordinates. The most secure and complex forms of hanko are used for banking and real estate dealings, while off-the-shelf varieties are used for everyday tasks such as signing for delivery of packages. Prefabricated rubber stamps are unacceptable for business purposes.
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" know as inkan tōroku shōmei-sho (印鑑登録証明書 or いんかんとうろくしょうめいしょ?).
The first evidence of writing in Japan is a hanko dating from AD 57, made of solid gold and belonging to the Emperor. At first, only the Emperor and his most trusted vassals 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.
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.
[edit] Korean usage
The seal 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-jui). 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. [3]
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.
Personal seals (dojang in general reference) in Korea can be classified by their legal status. It is very similar to that of Japan: 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. 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.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Kong Yunbai 孔雲白, Zhuanke Rumen 篆刻入門. Shanghai Book Publishings 上海書店印行: Shanghai, 1936.
- Qu Leilei, Chinese Calligraphy. Cico Books Ltd.: London, 2002.
- Wang Jia-nan; Cai Xiaoli and Young, Dawn; The Complete Oriental Painting Course: A structured, practical guide to painting skills and techniques of China and the Far East. Quarto Publishing plc. and Aurum Press: London, 1997.
