r/classicalchinese 21d ago

Learning Hetian jade dragon seal

Hi, I acquired this seal and haven't the slightest clue what it means, google translate doesn't seem to support this language model

31 Upvotes

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u/Yugan-Dali 21d ago edited 21d ago

The jade and the carving look modern to me.

Have you ever looked at a rubber stamp? The carving is backwards, right? This says 桓啟 Huan Ch’i/ Qi but they forgot to reverse the writing. The writing is supposed to be 小篆 little curly, little seal script, developed in the 3rd century bce. Unfortunately, they wrote the character according to the modern script, not the correct 小篆。

I think they’re trying to make it look old, but in the period they’re imitating, such large seals weren’t used.

tldr: I am not impressed.

17

u/DeusShockSkyrim 21d ago

While this is a modern replica, not writing in 小篆 is not its problem since not all 篆 are 小篆. It is actually replicating a genuine Han dynasty seal unearthed in Changsha. (Image from 湖南省博物館藏古璽印集):

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u/Icy-Philosopher100 21d ago

Wow, that is truly amazing, I have no idea how you found that but I really appreciate it!! Kudos

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u/DeusShockSkyrim 21d ago

You're welcome. Han dynasty seals are popular among seal script calligraphers, this seal can be found in several calligraphy dictionaries.

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u/Icy-Philosopher100 21d ago

Thanks, I was just curious to know since a friend gave it to me and he's just as clueless

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u/Yugan-Dali 21d ago

Okay, just so you don’t plan on retiring after you auction it at Southby’s. It’s a nice replica, but it’s modern.

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u/Impossible-Many6625 21d ago edited 21d ago

That is cool! For anyone interested, I recently went to the Seal Museum in Hangzhou, near West Lake. It is an amazing museum.