All kinds of Chinese arts are related to words, and seals are no exception. Before we fully understand seals, we must first understand the history of Chinese writing development. Before there were Chinese characters in use today, our ancestors used symbols to record what happened at that time. For example, the symbols carved in Dawenkou recorded the scene when the sun rose over the mountain. This was excavated at the Dawenkou site in Shandong Province and has a history of more than 4,500 years. These simple pictures already possess the properties of early writing. There are also symbols found in the Banpo ruins in Xi'an, which have a history of more than 6,000 years. According to the famous historian Guo Moruo, this is the earliest Chinese writing. Oracle bone inscriptions, the predecessor of Chinese characters in my country, are also called "divination inscriptions". Most of them are carved with knives. Every time aristocrats in the Shang Dynasty performed divination, they would carve the date, the question asked and the result on the oracle bones, forming a shape of varying lengths. article.
One and three seals
They are: Yaqinshi, Qujia and Zigen. These three seals are all made of copper and were unearthed from the Yinxu site in Anyang. The earliest three seals unearthed so far. "Yaqinshi" is the totem symbol of a tribe, and the last two are the personal seals of the tribal leader. Archaeologists have not yet verified the two characters behind the Ziguan seal. If you are interested, why not give it a try? These three seals are now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. When Chiang Kai-shek came to Taiwan, he did not take away all the rare treasures from the Forbidden City in Beijing. He only took these three seals with him. This shows how unique the historical status and social value of these three seals are. .
2. Seals from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period
Chinese Seals
In the Spring and Autumn Period, ancient people pressed the unfired pottery embryos onto their own seals. Names or preferences can be passed down; the slightly larger seal on the right is a seal used to transmit official documents in the Spring and Autumn Period, which is equivalent to today's stamps. When you walk over and look up, you can see the "Kilin Watching the Moon" on the top of the mountain. The Kirin has always represented auspiciousness, beauty, wishful thinking and other wishes in our country. As you can see, it is praying to heaven, wishing our country peace and prosperity, peace and prosperity, and people's health. rich.
The "Rigengdu Cui Chariot and Horse" seal is a horse seal of the Yan State. This seal is bold, powerful and majestic. It is the largest among the Zhuwen seals. This seal is still unique in its composition. , the four characters "Rigeng" and "Cuiche" are either oblique or upright, each on the left and right, leaving a large blank space in the middle, and then the characters "Du" and "马" suddenly merge together, forming a strong sparseness with the space above. The comparison between close and close is really the wonder of "a wide range can lead to a horse race, but a close range cannot tolerate a needle"!
3. Seal of Qin
The heroic and domineering Qin Shihuang on the stone wall, who unified the six countries, unified writing, and unified weights and measures, can be called the emperor of the ages. His seal is on the lower left. The seal of the ancient emperor was called the "Precious Seal". It was a symbol of imperial power and a certificate for issuing orders. The earliest seal in our country is the seal of the First Emperor of Qin - the Chuanguo Seal. Its seal is a typical bird-and-worm inscription: "If you are ordered by heaven, you will live forever." After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he ordered Prime Minister Li Si to make the Heshi Bi into the emperor's seal and wanted to pass it down from generation to generation, so it was called the Chuanguo Seal. Since the feudal rulers of all dynasties vigorously promoted that obtaining the national seal was "destined to return" and "a sign of auspiciousness", those who obtained this seal would conquer the world. Therefore, in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, there were fakes of national seals.
4. Seals of the Han Dynasty.
Yinshan, China
Although Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, came from a rough background, he was ambitious and open-minded. He knew people well and made good use of them, and was highly praised by people. The words "Han and the world" on this square tile fully reflect Liu Bang's ambition and pride at that time, and he was also called the "magnified seal" in history. Also discussed is the jade seal "Queen's Seal" belonging to Queen Lu. From the production of this seal, it is not difficult to see that its strokes are even, powerful, smooth and natural, giving people a sense of calm and contented beauty. At the same time, it is also not difficult to imagine that Queen Lu, as a woman, stayed behind the scenes and listened to politics behind the curtain. In the early Han Dynasty, Its historical status and peerless style.
The seal "King of the Japanese Nu of the Han Dynasty" was unearthed in Japan. This seal was presented to the king of the Japanese Nu by Emperor Guangwu to show the high prestige of the dynasty.
The Wonu Kingdom is today's Japan. This square seal is not only a symbol of Sino-Japanese friendship, but also a witness to the prosperous and prosperous period of the Han Dynasty.
On the way up the steps, there is a "Seal of the Yellow God". This is a Taoist seal. Taoist practices are practiced deep in the mountains. It is said that this seal can ward off evil and is a must-have peace charm for Taoist priests. Dear tourists and friends, you may wish to touch this seal, I believe it will bless you with a happy journey, and at the same time, it will also bless you with a smooth journey to any famous mountains and rivers in the future.
5. Seals of the Tang and Song Dynasties
Chinese seals
Seals have further developed from being legal objects representing the rights and interests of those in power and tools of private trust for private individuals to art. It was only after the Tang Dynasty that the territory became established and occupied a place. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty took the lead in sealing seals with his "Zhenguan" couplets on the palace calligraphy and painting collections. The effect was effective, and the trend of appraising collections became popular in both the government and the public, thus triggering the fundamental transformation of seals from practicality to art.
Here I would like to talk about Song Huizong, an emperor who really should not be an emperor. He is a great artist. His paintings are exquisite and his calligraphy is known as "thin gold style". It enjoys a high reputation in the calligraphy community. Xuanhe is the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty. During this period, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty concentrated on calligraphy and painting and ignored state affairs, which led to the rise of peasant uprisings, such as Song Jiang, Fang La and so on. This is what happened in "Water Margin", one of the four famous works in China. was born under the objective historical background.
6. Seals of the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties
Song Xuezhai is the representative work of Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan Dynasty. He was an outstanding calligrapher, painter, seal carver and poet in the Yuan Dynasty. The ball-shaped calligraphy created by him is round and vivid, simple and thick, yet elegant and graceful. The ballpoint pens we use now evolved from ballpoint inscriptions.
China's Seal Mountain
Impression is the rock and treasure of the mountain. Please see this is a marble elephant. The elephant is carrying two seals. It is said that when Pangu opened the world, the elephant came to the world and quietly came to the Changning Temple with good luck and blessings. Hundreds of thousands of years have passed, and it was not until the advent of China's Yinshan that the blessings of the elephant were revealed. It wished that the world would always be "heaven, earth, and people"; it wished friends who came to Yinshan for sightseeing "prosperity and good luck." This cliff stone has a Han seal carved by two sides on the top and a lifelike elephant on the bottom, so people call it "impression".