DERIVATION AND USE OF SEALS IN CHINA

Until the decade of the 1920s, "it was archaeological heresy to suggest that China had borrowed anything from the west . . ." (Sutherland, 1965, p. 60). In 1923, however, a stamp seal was found in an archaeological dig in Elam in the mountains of northeast Sumer (Eisen, 1940). This seal dated to the fourthmillenniumB.C. Prior to this find, stamp seals of this type had never been found outside of China. From 1928 through 1937, archaeological excavations in China confirmed the international character of both stamp seals and neolithic pottery in China (Eisen, 1940). The small animals found in the jade sculpture of the Shang Dynasty (1766to1122B.C.), as an example, "have no precursors" in Chinese neolithic sites, yet they "are reminiscent of much earlier amulets in stone unearthed . . . in Mesopotamia" (Sutherland, 1965, p. 61). In considering the historical development of seals in China, therefore, it is necessary to also consider even earlier seal development outside of China.

The earliest use of seals has been traced to stamp seals in western Asia circa 6500B.C. (Mellaart, 1964). These early stamp seals were postage stamp size, bore geometric patterns, and were, it is t

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Size varies from huge imperial seals (as large as fivebyseveninches) to tiny individual seals as small as oneeighthinch square or in diameter (Sutherland, 1965). Chinese seals are also either yang or yin in design (Sutherland, 1965). Yang seals have the design carved in relief, which means that when the seals are applied, they will appear red on a white background. Yin seals have the design engraved in intaglio form, which means that when the seals are applied, they will appear white on a red background. Chinese seals always have an ornamental knob on the top of the shaft, with the design inscribed on the flat base of the seal (Sutherland, 1965). The shaft on large seals may be as much as onefoot high (Sutherland, 1965). The Function of Seals The development of writing has, to a great extent, obviated the need for seals (Sutherland, 1965). Nevertheless, seals remain in wide use throughout eastern Asia. In China, beginning with the emperor Huang Ti (259to210B.C.), the emperor's seal was handed down in the Han Dynasty through 8A.D. as evidence of the "seal of succession of empire" (Sutherland, 1965, p. 62). Han Dynasty emperors also used six additional seals. These additional seals were used to (1) create prince
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Approximate Word count = 1559
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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