What does seal cutting mean?

Seal cutting is a traditional art form, named after the seal script printed on the ancient seal. It is the art of combining calligraphy and sculpture (including chiseling and casting) to make seals. As far as the production technology is concerned, it refers to carving patterns or characters designed on the plane on materials such as metal, stone, teeth and horns.

Source.

The seal originated from the class society, initially as a symbol of documents, and later became a certificate of rights and interests. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, seals were widely used, including articles, gold coins and standard instruments. Qin and Han dynasties were the prosperous period of seals, and the official seals in Han dynasty had formed a whole set of systems, and the forms of seals were more diverse.

Most of the printed texts are printed by Miao. Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties basically followed the tradition of Qin and Han seals. In the Tang Dynasty, the size of the official seal increased, the seal was Xiao Zhuan, and most of the inscriptions were Zhu Wen.

During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the scope of private printing began to expand, and book collection printing, book collection printing and word printing rose. The shape, material, carving and layout of seals have changed significantly. In particular, literati, calligraphers and painters participated in seal cutting, which expanded from craftsmen to literati, and seals entered the era of seal cutting.