Chapter 28 Section 6 The Appearance and Use of Seals and Talismans

According to literature records, seals appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period, but they have not been found in archaeological work so far.During the Warring States Period, with the establishment of the feudal system, the system of officialdom and wealth of slavery was abolished, and officials were appointed by the vassals and monarchs. The appointment required a certificate. Therefore, the official seal as the certificate of official status and power came into being. up.On the other hand, due to the development of social life and the increase in personal contacts, certificates representing personal identity and reputation are also required. Therefore, private seals also appeared.In short, it was under such social conditions that the seal as a public-private certificate developed.Seals of the Warring States Period are mainly cast in bronze, in addition to jade, silver, amber, colored glaze, bone, horns, pottery seals, etc.The shape of the printed surface is mostly square, and there are also rectangles, circles, ovals, curved rulers, etc.There are small buttons on the seal, mostly nose buttons, for wearing and wearing the seal on the body.There are two kinds of printed texts: Zhu Wen (Yang Wen) and Bai Wen (Yin Wen). The layout of the rules is simple and ingenious, and it is also an excellent work of art.In the Warring States period, the seal was mainly used to seal on the clay, used to seal slips or objects, to prevent unauthorized demolition, and for letter verification.In addition, seals are also printed on silk or wet blanks of pottery, or branded on horses.The official seals are relatively large, generally with a side length of more than two centimeters, and the printed characters are mostly place names and official names.For example, "Leyin Sikou", "Sima Zhixi", "Xiawudu Situ", "Shanggu Jiangcheng" and so on.Private seals are smaller than official seals, usually with a side length of 1.5 cm.Generally, it is the first and last name, such as "Wang Mai" and so on.In addition, there are Ji Yuxi and Xiao Xingxi.The inscriptions on the Jiyuxi seal include "Enter and exit Daji", "loyalty", "respect", "prosperity" and so on.The seal of Xiao Xingxi is in the shape of various animals (tiger, deer, etc.) or people, concise and vivid.After Qin Shihuang unified China, it was stipulated that only the seal of the emperor could be called a seal, and the seals of general officials and private individuals could only be called seals. From then on, the general seals were called seals.From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the material of seals was still mainly bronze.After the Ming Dynasty, lithography developed.Sealing includes the engraving of seal characters, margins, and seal buttons, and has become a unique art in China.Famous artists emerged in large numbers, such as Wen Peng and He Zhen in the Ming Dynasty, Cheng Sui, Ding Jing, Deng Shiru, Zhao Zhiqian in the Qing Dynasty, and Qi Baishi in modern times.

The talisman that appeared in the Warring States period was a certificate to convey the king's order, which reflected the development of a centralized political system.Amulet, generally refers to a soldier talisman, which is a certificate for dispatching troops.Most of them are made of bronze, mostly in the shape of a tiger.It is divided into two parts from the middle spine, one half is kept in the hands of the monarch, and the other half is kept by the generals of the army.When sending troops, envoys must hold half of the tiger talisman in the hands of the monarch, go to face the half in the hands of the general, and verify "conformity" before it is valid.During the Warring States Period, the famous story of King Xinling of Wei State who asked Ru Ji to steal the talisman to save Zhao is a concrete example of the function of the tiger talisman.The remains of the physical objects are like the Xinqi Tiger Talisman of the Qin State at the end of the Warring States Period, on which there are four lines of 40 characters in wrong gold inscription: "The Talisman of Armored Soldiers, the right is for the king, and the left is for Xinqi. Every Xingshi who is armored and employs more than 50 soldiers will surely Wang talisman, dare to do it. Burnt (fanfan) Sui things, although there is no talisman, do it (also). "The festival is generally a pass certificate, and it is also cast in bronze.For example, the Ejunqi festivals unearthed in Qiujia Garden, Shou County, Anhui Province in 1957 and 1960, including car festivals and boat festivals, are in the shape of rectangular arcs, imitating bamboo festivals.The section is 29.3 centimeters long, 7.3 centimeters wide and 0.7 centimeters thick. There are 147 characters in nine lines of wrong gold inscriptions on it.A total of three pieces were found, and there should have been five pieces, which happened to form a round bamboo tube.The boat section is 31 centimeters long, 7.3 centimeters wide and 0.7 centimeters thick. There are 164 characters in nine lines of wrong gold inscriptions on it.A total of two pieces were found, and the original five pieces were combined into a round bamboo tube.They are tax-free certificates issued to E Junqi in the sixth year of King Huai of Chu (323 BC) to transport goods by car or boat.The number and routes of caravans and vehicles were specified in detail, which reflected the restrictions imposed by the king of Chu on the feudal monarch's profit, and also reflected the development of commercial trade at that time.