The jade seal is the seal used by ancient emperors to sign their names. The origin of the word jade is that Qin Shihuang made the jade seal with He's Bi, and the seal means seal. In ancient times, emperors in China and the West used jade seals as seals. Among them, the jade seal made by Qin Shihuang with He's Bi was also known as the Chuanguo Seal.
China
The Qin, Han, Wei, Western Jin, Former Zhao, Eastern Jin, Song, Southern Qi, Liang, Chen, Sui, Tang, Later Liang, and Later Tang dynasties followed Qin Shihuang's legacy The jade seal is engraved with the words "Ordered by Heaven, and you will live forever" and is made of He's jade. When Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, he asked Wang Zhengjun, the then empress dowager, for the imperial seal. Wang Zhengjun was very angry and sent it to the emperor. The jade seal was taken out and smashed to the ground. Therefore, it is said that a corner of the national seal was broken. Although the missing corner was filled with gold in the future, traces of the shattering were still visible. It is said that the imperial seal disappeared when Emperor Li Congke of the late Tang Dynasty set himself on fire.
During the Song Dynasty, some farmers dug up the "Jade Seal of the State" in the fields. The Song Dynasty considered it to be the one made by Qin Shihuang, but people at the time thought it was a forgery. Later, the Jin Kingdom took away this jade seal passed down to the Yuan Dynasty. It was taken to the north when the Yuan Dynasty fell, and the Ming army sent troops many times but could not get it back. Since then, the Ming and Qing dynasties have produced a large number of jade seals to reduce the importance of jade seals passed down to the country.
During the Taiping Rebellion, the King of Heaven also made a new jade seal. The Jade Seal of the Heavenly King was made of sapphire. It was square, with a side length of 20.4 cm, a height of 2.7 cm, and a height of 7.4 cm. The back of the seal was engraved with cloud patterns. , the side of the button is engraved with a double phoenix and sunrise pattern. Around the seal, there are two phoenixes and sunrise patterns engraved on the top, dragon patterns on the left and right, and standing water patterns on the bottom. The seal is engraved in Song style official script, with 44 characters.
The seal text is divided into two parts: in the middle of the upper part are the four characters "Heavenly Father and God", which are read vertically; on both sides are the two characters "yu" and "xi", and the two characters "tai" and "ping". A small character; outside the small character "太", there are two big characters "Enhe", which is read vertically; outside the small character "平", there are two big characters "jimu", which is read vertically. The lower part is composed of four words and eight sentences, from left to right, in order: "Eternally determine the universe", "Eight long lives", "Savior of the young Lord", "Heavenly King Hongri", "Heavenly Brother Christ", "Lord Wangyudu", "True King Guifu" and "Yongxi". Tianlu".
The Muyu Seal of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is now in the National Museum of China.
After the Revolution of 1911, as a reform measure, the government of the Republic of China announced the abolition of the use of jade seals.
Japan
The Emperor of Japan also used a jade seal to seal his signature, and it was called the imperial seal. The status and symbolic meaning of the three sacred artifacts that symbolize the succession of emperors in Japan are equivalent to those of China's imperial seals.