Chapter 5 Chuan Guoxi Ancient History

The seal letter has a very ancient origin. From the beginning of the three generations, from the emperor to the common people, they have known to use the seal letter to keep it.Zhou followed the old system, which flourished in the Qin Dynasty, and was considered complete in the Han Dynasty.The seal is also the seal, the emperor is called the seal, and the ministers are called the seal.According to legend, the "Chuan Guoxie" began in the Qin Dynasty, and the inscription on the seal "is ordered by the heavens, and the longevity will last forever", which is a small seal script written by Li Si. It was probably made by winning Qin and annexing the six countries to unify the world.Qin Shihuang passed it on to the second generation, and the second generation passed it on to Ziying. Liu Bangbing came to Bashang, Ziying descended to Han, presented the Chuan Guoxie, and passed it on to Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty.After the death of Emperor Ping, the Chuan Guoxi was hidden in the Changle official where the Queen Mother lived. Wang Mang usurped the Han and sent Wang Shun into the palace to force him. The Queen Mother was very angry and threw the Chuan Guoxi at Wang Shun. .After the seal returned to Wang Mang, in order to make the jade seal complete, it was inlaid with black gold to mend it, which is the so-called gold inlaid jade seal in later generations.Later, the Chuan Guoxi was handed down to Emperor Xian and Sima. It was handed down from the emperors of the Six Dynasties, to Emperor Yong Taizong, through the Later Liang Dynasty and the Later Tang Dynasty, and until the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty set fire to himself in Xuanwu Tower in Luoyang. Since then, the whereabouts of the Chuan Guoxi Seal has been unknown. up.

According to the printing of the Han Dynasty, the emperor had six seals - the emperor's seal, the emperor's seal, the emperor's letter seal, the emperor's line seal, the emperor's seal, and the emperor's letter seal.Each of the six seals has different purposes, and there is a talisman in charge of it.At that time, the well-known gold and stone family Shouxi (stoneworker) in Beiping had a deep research on ancient seals. He explained the uses of the six seals of the emperor. For conquests, the emperor's seal is mainly used for conscription and registration, the emperor's seal is always in charge of the country's major events, and the emperor's letter seal worships heaven, earth, ghosts and gods.This kind of printing has been passed down from generation to generation without any changes. The font size of the seal is gradually evolved from the Zhongding and the big and small seals.As for the well-known Chuan Guoxie, which is not included in the Six Seals of the Son of Heaven, it is just the heirloom treasure handed down from the Qin Dynasty. Any "True Dragon Emperor" who is embraced by the public after changing dynasties must have that national treasure, otherwise he will die. He is regarded as the grass chicken king rather than the orthodox emperor.For example, the Eastern Jin Dynasty has gone through Emperor Ming, Emperor Wu, Emperor Kang, and Emperor Mu from Emperor Yuan, but has never found the Jade Seal of Chuanguo, so some people call them "Emperor Baiban".

In the early years of the Republic of China, Zhang Zhiyu, a master print maker in Peking, was highly respected by the Japanese.Matsuzaki Tatsujiro, a famous Japanese printing maker, said: "Zhang's printing is not only powerful and well-proportioned, but also the majestic technique of Naxumi and mustard seeds. Apart from Northern Qi (Baishi) and Southern Wu (Changshuo), there is no third party thinking. "In fact, Zhang Zhiyu is good at everything from bamboo and mud making, and he has unique insights into the textual research on gold and stone.Mrs. Zhang once said that the material of the Chuan Guoxie came from Lantian jade in Shaanxi, and various ancient records say it is jade, so there is no doubt about it.In the east of Lantian County, Shaanxi Province, there is a jade mountain in the sun of Lishan Mountain. Both nephrite and hard jade are produced (white jade belongs to nephrite, and jadeite belongs to hard jade).However, if it is said to be carved with Chu people and Choi, it is difficult to determine its authenticity.Ancient seals, for the New Zealand style, have their own customizations and cannot be confused.The Chuan Guoxi is a Pan Chi button engraved, and the records in various ancient books are the same, so it is true.As for the size of Chuan Guoxi, according to the description in ancient books, most of them are four inches square.Zhang Zhiyu has a rubbing, which has two models of Chuan Guoxi, mounted into a scroll.The stamp on the upper part is insect seal script, with the printed text "Ordered by the heavens, long life and prosperity";There are differences between the two in writing and seal method, one is not true and the other is false, but both must be false.After the abolished emperor of the later Tang Dynasty set fire to himself and lost his whereabouts, the emperors of all dynasties always felt that without the imperial seal, even though they were the emperor, they were not orthodox.However, ordinary wise and treacherous people do everything possible to make fake seals, fabricate a set of stories about sages and virtues, and Tianlu and auspiciousness, hoping for great rewards.Even if the emperor who received the treasure was aware of the hypocrisy, he was unwilling to expose it by himself, so he made the mistake and let the subjects know that he was the real dragon emperor who was ordered by the sky, so they dared not have second thoughts.This is the reason why there are repeated records of offering treasures in the annals of Yi Kao, Song and Yuan dynasties.Zhang Zhiyu’s banner of the Chuan Guoxi that hung in his study was given to him by Zhang Hairuo of the Jinshi family. It is said that it was rubbed out of a fake seal stored in the Forbidden City. Hey, it's indistinguishable!

At the beginning of the founding of the Republic of China, the national seal naturally needed to be re-sculpted, but good jade was hard to find.On September 10, the sixth year of the Republic of China, after the founding father took office as the Grand Marshal, someone offered a piece of Qiongyu, so he hired Lu Jiu'an, a famous artist from eastern Guangdong, to carve it, and appointed Lian Shenghai, the secretary of the Marshal's Office, as the seal maker.It took eight months to engrave the "Seal of the Republic of China", which is two inches seven inches high and two inches six inches wide.

After the national reunification in the 17th year of the Republic of China, the State Council decided to re-engrav the seal of the Republic of China because the size of the original seal of the Republic of China was too small.This seal is carved out of square emerald jade and weighs 3.2 kilograms. The seal is 4.3 centimeters tall, and together with the national emblem, it is 10 centimeters high. The surface of the seal is 13.3 centimeters square.It was started on July 1st, 18th year of the Republic of China, and was completed on October 9th of that year. The national government also ordered it to be used on the National Day of the 18th year.From then on, all letters of credence, ratification, acceptance, full powers, and diplomatic documents will be stamped with this seal.

In the 19th year of the Republic of China, someone presented a piece of suet jade with a warm texture to the government, so another seal of honor was engraved.Xi Cheng weighs 4.3 kilograms, Xi is 4.6 centimeters tall, and the overall height of Xi Niu is 11.1 centimeters. The Xi's surface is 11.6 centimeters square.The seal method of this seal is majestic and majestic, and the Chongwei is superb. I don't know which famous artist wrote it. It was used on July 1st in the 20th year of the Republic of China.From then on, all the plaques and documents that reward a class will be stamped with this seal to show their meritorious service.In the twenty-fourth year of the Republic of China, when Mr. Wu Liqing was appointed as the civil servant of the National Government, a dutiful son in Liuhe, Jiangsu celebrated his widowed mother's 90th anniversary. Local people applied for praise, and the government issued a plaque of "Songjun Rewarding Festival" by decree. The author once saw it Covered with the seal of Rongdian in jade seal and Zhuni.It is reported that both jade seals have been brought to Taiwan.