Seal has played an important role in Chinese culture for over 3000 years. It was used in lieu of signature to prove the identity on documents, contracts, art, etc.
Carved with Chinese characters, seals can be made of various kinds of materials, including jade, wood, stone, animal tooth, etc. They are used with the combination of red ink or cinnabar paste.
They have been used by people from all walks of life and can be largely divided into three categories, imperial, official and private.
Imperial seals, also called xi or bao, were owned and used for official purpose by the emperors in ancient China. Emperors also had another kind of seals to stamp on the art work, such as painting, calligraphy, etc.
As a token of authority, official seals were conferred to officials to carry on their duties. They were designed small enough to be carried on the official’s belt. According to their positions, the material and the shape of the seals are different.
Private seals are mostly used as signatures in China. Since they were unregulated, they came in a large variety of material, shapes, sizes, and calligraphy.
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