Dandeli Art & Life: A Speech on the Art of Chinese Mud Seals
Speechmaker: Liu Zhenqing Editors: Michelle Yang and Xin Jiamin
Seal carving is an art that combines Chinese calligraphy and carving skills. It was born through the function of utility, and gradually evolved into an independent art form from the Yuan to Qing Dynasty (AD 1271-1911), inheriting the essence of royal seals from the Qing and Han Dynasty (BC 221-220 AD). Seal carving has become a distinctively Chinese art that can be appreciated from aspects of both calligraphy and sculpturing. Therefore, if someone asked what the best representation of Chinese art and culture was, despite the prevalent answer most likely being Chinese calligraphy, art historians would tell you the real answer: the Chinese seal!
The professional way to explain the act of affixing a seal is to use the Chinese character “îÔ” (the original meaning of “îÔ” in the Chinese language refers to an official stamp) instead of “¸Ç”, which is more often used in daily life. Any piece of artwork would fail from a bad seal mark; a good seal should be rubbed down. Some tutorial videos are misleading by stating that it is necessary to rub the seal along the track of X in order to have the face flat. Actually, the key has nothing to do with the direction of rubbing, but is dependent on whether you can take a firm hold of the seal when rubbing so as to keep the axis of the seal vertical to the table at all times.
Today we are going to introduce some knowledge of Chinese mud seals by illustration of pictures and real seals.
The earliest seal is an emblem of power. Before the Qin Dynasty, all official and private seals were called “çô” in Chinese. As soon as Emperor Qin Shihuang (the founder of the Qin Dynasty) had unified the six states, “çô” began to refer to royal seals only, and other official and private seals were all called “Ó¡”. In the Han Dynasty, the seals of princes and queens could be both “çô” and “±¦”, while those of generals were called “Õ”. From then on, seals have had various names such as “Ó¡”, “Õ”, “Ó¡ÐÅ”, “ͼÕ”, “·û”, “Æõ”, “Ѻ”, and “´Á×Ó”.
From the period of Warring States to the period of Wei in Three Kingdoms (BC 475-265 AD), writs were kept on bamboo tablets. One way to seal up the content and prevent the tablets from being lost was to tie them up with rope. The roped tablets would be put into a wooden block with a square slot, which would then be covered by a piece of soft mud and sealed. The air-dried mud then became the seal we see today. Since the Jin Dynasty (AD 265-420), paper and thin silk gradually took the place of bamboo tablets, and mud seals were no longer necessary. Seal carvers in later times have adopted carving skills by studying precious rubbings made from the seal impressions in relief.
As the use of paper materials become popular, people began dipping seal colors and stamps on paper, so the inkpad was invented accordingly. The use of seal mud and inkpads create different visual effects: impressions on mud have white characters while stamps on paper are usually with red characters. There is also a large seal especially for marks on horses.
The following is some basic knowledge concerning Chinese seals:
A. The materials of seals
From the period of Warring States till the Ming and Qing Dynasty, official and private seals were mainly made of copper. Other materials include gold, silver, jade, iron, crystal, agate, ivory, rhinocerotic horns, tree roots, melon pedicels, fruit seeds, tiles, stones, and so on. It is said that the seal on the Emperor’s crown in the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1271-1368) was made from a certain type of stone because stones are knife-friendly. From then on, stones became a popular material of making seals, and scholars began carving seals themselves instead of relying on professional artisans, gradually forming the art of seal carving.
B. Patterns of seals
There are three types: patterns, Chinese characters, and a combination of patterns and Chinese characters. Categorized from the concave and convex of seals, there are characters cut in relief, characters cut in intaglio, and characters cut in half-relief and half-intaglio.
C. Ways of wearing seals
Seals in ancient times usually had buttons, for the purpose of attaching a ribbon on it and tie to people’s waistbands. Since the Han Dynasty, buttons shaped as Chi (a type of dragon in ancient folklore), turtle, snake, and horse represented respectively the Emperor and hundreds of officials and officers. For example, shapes of turtles and snakes represented high ranking officials, and shapes of camels and snakes represented officials from folks in brotherhood during the Han to Jin Dynasty.
D. Postscript of seals
The postscript of a seal is an illustration of the seal, carved on the side face of the seal.
E. A book of seals
A book of seals is a collection of seal patterns.
F. A screen of seals
A screen of seals is to use various seals to stamp on a piece of paper, mount it on a painting scroll, and hang it up for appreciation.
G. A seal ruler
A seal ruler is a square, or a 3/4 round, usually made of copper. It is used if any part of a seal can not produce clear impression. Do not move the seal ruler when stamping for a second time so that the impressions are fully superposed.
Now let us see the seals from all times.
Ancient royal seals were found from city remains, rivers and tombs. Some seals were abandoned by losers and refugees of wars, and some were left behind by those who sacrificed at war. It was the convention that all seals captured on battle fields must be handed in, and any official should hand in his seal once he changed post or deceased. Other potteries and vessels from the period of the Warring States, as well as the gold coins of subordinated states, had seals of names of items and artisans or symbols, which were saved till now.
A. Seals of the Warring States
Seals before the Qin Dynasty were generally called “¹Åçô”, and the seals of the Warring States are the most ancient seals that we see today. Words on those seals are not all recognizable.
B. Qin Seals
Qin Seals refer to seals popular from the late period of Warring States to the West Han Dynasty (BC 202-8 AD), whose words in use were called Qin Zhuan and easier to recognize than those of the Warring States.
C. Han Official Seals
This is the general name of official seals from the Han till the period of Wei and Jin States in the Three Kingdoms. Words on the seals are even more orderly, squarer and more elegant. The skill of seal carving in the Han Dynasty reached a historic milestone, and was learned as a sample by seal carvers in the following times.
D. Miu Zhuan Seals
Characters on Miu Zhuan Seals are artful and unique, appearing earliest on ancient weapons or musical bells.
E. Multi-shaped Seals
Multi-shaped seals were born after the period of Warring States. They have various sizes and shapes, and were only used as private seals.
F. Pattern Seals
Pattern Seals are also called Hieroglyphic Seals, which appeared from the period of Warring States till the period of Wei State in the Three Kingdoms, and was especially popular in the Han Dynasty.
G. Hua Ya Seals
Hua Ya Seals are also called Ya Zi, which first appeared in the Song Dynasty and became popular in the Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, another name for these seals is Yuan Ya. They are often rectangle-shaped.
H. Official Seals since the Sui and Tang Dynasty
Up to the Sui and Tang Dynasty, the face of seals became larger than before. Most official seals had an impression of the Years. After the Song and Yuan Dynasty, schools of seal carving were founded and proliferated.
Thank you!
