With the establishment of the Han dynasty, the art of seal cutting reached its golden period. There was then established in the office of Siyushi 侍御史, a Department of Seals (yincao 印曹), whose duty it was to make seals for the emperor, the imperial household, and various officials. 1
National Treasure 国宝
Gold Seal With Characters “Dian Wang Zhi Yin” “滇王之印”金印
Gold | Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-9 AD) | Wt: 89.5 g, L: 2.3cm, H: 1.8 cm | Unearthed at Shizhaishan site, Jinning, Yunnan, 1956 | National Museum of China Collection. 金印｜西汉（公元前202年-公元9年）｜重89.5克，边长2.3厘米，高1.8厘米 | 1956年云南省昆明市晋宁区上蒜镇石寨村石寨山出土｜中国国家博物馆藏
In 1956, this gold “Seal of the Dian King” “滇王之印” was unearthed in the tomb of the Dian King who was buried among Western Han tomb sites in Shizhaishan, Yunnan Province, China. The seal was bestowed by Emperor Wu 漢武帝 (r. 141-87 BC) of the Han Dynasty, aka Liu Che 劉徹 (156-87 BC) in the second year of Yuanfeng (109 BC) after the King of Dian (ancient name for Yunnan) surrendered to the Han Dynasty.2 Before this seal was discovered, the Kingdom of Dian was only mentioned in Sima Qian’s historical annals.
The significance of this discovery was the establishment of the seal system in Han Dynasty. These seals were in line with the Han bureaucrat system of seals. During the Han dynasty, similar seals were bestowed on other regional sovereigns, in an attempt by the dynasty to bring these sovereigns into the Han ruling order.3
Gold Seal of King of Na, State of the Wa (Cassal) of Han Dynasty 金印 漢委奴国王4
国宝（こくほう） National Treasure of Japan5
Gold | Origin: China | Eastern Han dynasty, 1st century | L: 2.35 cm (0.93 in) square, H: 2.25 cm (0.89 in), Wt: 109 g| National Treasure found in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka (April 12, 1784) | Fukuoka City Museum Collection. 金印｜国宝、福岡市東区志賀島出土｜中国｜後漢時代・1世紀｜福岡市博物館蔵6
A similar gold seal was discovered in Shikanoshima, Japan, that was bestowed by Eastern Han Emperor Guangwu 東漢光武帝 (r. 25-57 AD), aka Liu Xiu 劉秀 (5 BC – 57 AD) to the King of Na. The seal has been judged to be the one described in the Book of the Later Han, a Chinese chronicle of the history of the Eastern Han dynasty.8
Bronze Seal of Tribal Chief of Jiang “漢歸義羌長”青銅印9
Bronze | Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD) | H: 3.5 cm, L: 2.3 cm | Unearthed at Xayar, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 1953 | National Museum of China Collection. 铜印｜汉（公元前202年-公元220年）｜通高3.5厘米，边长2.3厘米｜1953年新疆沙雅于什格提出土｜中国国家博物馆藏
The Han government conferred this seal on the leader of the Qiang, an ethnic people living north of the Kunlun Mountains in the Western Regions. The main differences between these seals:
- Inscription – The Dian King seal does not have the words “歸義”, or “Subjugated”. Instead it uses the words “之印”, or “Seal of”, which is an indication of the close relationship of Dian kingdom and Han authorities; as such, they were seen as insiders.10
- Material used for the seal – Gold was conferred only to surrendered kings and marquises, the rest were conferred bronze or wooden seals.
- Animal carving on the back of the seal – Turtle and snakes were bestowed to aristocrats and marquises, the rest got sheep and camels.11
With the fall of the Han dynasty, the art of seal cutting gradually came to decay. The established authority was gone, with the result that people acted as they pleased. Personal seals start to appear among the commoners.
All photos taken at National Museum of China Nov 2025, Tokyo National Museum Jan 2025, unless otherwise indicated.
About Chinese Treasure Series
中華國寶系列 Chinese Treasure series feature specific artefacts and relics from museums all around the world that are historically significant to be considered a National Treasure. The series covers the 5,000 years of Chinese civilisation from Neolithic periods before the Xia dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC) to modern day.
Footnotes :
- Yeh Ch’iu-yuan 葉秋原, The Lore of Chinese Seals. CHINA HERITAGE QUARTERLY, China Heritage Project, The Australian National University, See Jinshu Zhiguan Zhi 晉書職官志. ISSN 1833-8461, No. 29, March 2012. accessed 29 Dec 2025 ↩︎
- Gold Seal With Characters “Dian Wang Zhi Yin” “滇王之印”金印
Gold | Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-9 AD) | Wt: 89.5 g, L: 2.3cm, H: 1.8 cm | Unearthed at Shizhaishan site, Jinning, Yunnan, 1956 | National Museum of China Collection. 金印｜西汉（公元前202年-公元9年）｜重89.5克，边长2.3厘米，高1.8厘米 | 1956年云南省昆明市晋宁区上蒜镇石寨村石寨山出土｜中国国家博物馆藏
1956年，这枚形如盤蛇印紐的金印「滇王之印」於中國雲南石寨山西漢古墓群的6號墓滇王墓出土，經考證是漢武帝劉徹于元封二年（前109年）滇王嘗羌臣服漢室后賜予的印綬。并且印证了，东汉光武帝赠与日本的汉倭奴国王印，尺寸及印紐均符合漢制。
Museum information card, Nov 2025 ↩︎ - “The Permanent Exhibitions of the Fukuoka City Museum”. Fukuoka City Museum. Retrieved 2023-05-10. ↩︎
- King of Na gold seal
The meanings of these characters (in the context of this seal) are: “Han” (referring to the Han dynasty of China), “Wa” (an ancient name for Japan), “Na” (an ancient kingdom / state within Japan), “state / country”, and “ruler.” Altogether, the meaning of the seal inscription is: “(seal of) the King of the Na state of the Wa [vassal?] of the Han dynasty”.
The character 委 is a loan word for 倭 (Wa), an instance of the common practice of loaning characters in Classical Chinese. The characters are engraved in the seal script style. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_Na_gold_seal, accessed 29 Dec 2025 ↩︎ - List of National Treasures of Japan (archaeological materials)
The term “National Treasure” has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897.[1] The definition and the criteria have changed since the introduction of the term. These archaeological materials adhere to the current definition, and have been designated national treasures since the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties came into effect on June 9, 1951. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Treasures_of_Japan_(archaeological_materials), accessed 29 Dec 2025 ↩︎ - Gold Seal of King of Na, State of the Wa (Cassal) of Han Dynasty 金印 漢委奴国王
国宝（こくほう） National Treasure of Japan
Gold | Origin: China | Eastern Han dynasty, 1st century | L: 2.35 cm (0.93 in) square, H: 2.25 cm (0.89 in), Wt: 109 g| National Treasure found in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka (April 12, 1784) | Fukuoka City Museum Collection. 金印｜国宝、福岡市東区志賀島出土｜中国｜後漢時代・1世紀｜福岡市博物館蔵
古代中国の印は、材質やつまみ（紐）の形、下げる紐（綬）によって、所有する人の立場や役割を表します。後漢では、印の材質や綬で地位や役職を、鈕の形で地域や民族を表しました。光武帝が奴国に与えた蛇鈕をもつ金印は、南方の異民族の王として認めたことを示すものです。
Museum information card, Jan 2025 ↩︎ - Engraved upon the gold seal are the Chinese characters 漢委奴國王 (Kan no Wa no Na-no-Koku-ō, “King of the Na state of the Wa (vassal) of Han”. “Wa” is an ancient name of Japan. “Na” was Nakoku (奴国); a state that existed in and around the area of Fukuoka City in Kyushu during the Yayoi period. National Treasures of Japan – Exhibition catalogure, April 10 – May 27, 1990, Tokyo National Museum (in Japanese). Yomiuri Shimbun. 1990. ↩︎
- Contemporary description of conferral
The following is the original Chinese text from the chronicle:
建武中元二年，倭奴國奉貢朝賀，使人自稱大夫，倭國之極南界也。光武賜以印綬。
“後漢書·東夷列傳第七十五”
This passage can be translated into English as:
“In the 2nd year of the jianwu zhongyuan reign period [AD 57], the Na state of Wa sent an envoy with tribute. The envoy introduced himself as a high official. The state lies in the far south of Wa. [Emperor] Guangwu bestowed on him a seal with a tassel.”
During the Han dynasty, similar seals were bestowed on other regional sovereigns, in an attempt by the dynasty to bring these sovereigns into the Han ruling order. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_Na_gold_seal, accessed 29 Dec 2025 ↩︎ - Bronze Seal of Tribal Chief of Jiang “汉归义羌长”青铜印
Bronze | Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD) | Unearthed at Xayar, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 1953 | National Museum of China Collection. 铜印｜汉（公元前202年-公元220年）｜1953年新疆沙雅于什格提出土｜中国国家博物馆藏
此印是汉政府赐给分布在西域昆仑山北麓的羌族首领的官印。
Museum information card, Nov 2025 ↩︎ - 汉晋“归义”印：“慕义而归”的见证丨文物中的三交史, 来源：中国民族报发布时间：2023-09-29 00:17
自两汉至魏晋时期，自西南至西北，从云贵至新疆，都发现有中原王朝授予的印玺，与汉晋时期民族分布的地理格局一致，反映出我国作为统一多民族国家的历史进程。与“滇王之印”不同，其他的出土印玺多数带有“归义”二字，被称为“归义”印。“归义”是汉朝授予边疆少数民族首领的一种封号。《后汉书·百官》记载：“四夷国王，率众王，归义侯，邑君、邑长，皆有丞，比郡县。”
图片
“归义”印的发现，向西可至塔里木盆地，如新疆维吾尔自治区沙雅县出土的“汉归义羌长”青铜印，印台正方形，卧羊钮，纽与印之间有一圆形孔，应为穿绶佩戴之用。印通高3.5厘米，边长2.3厘米，印面阴刻篆书“汉归义羌长”，体现了中原王朝与西北地区羌族之间的关系。
古代羌人以游牧为主，部落众多，在秦汉至三国时代也有不少部落分布在“敦煌西域之南山中，从婼羌（今新疆若羌县东南）西至葱岭（今帕米尔高原）数千里”。“汉归义羌长”青铜印的发现，与“南羌”生活于塔里木盆地的历史相符。青海湟水谷地和祁连山南麓，在两汉时期主要是羌、湟中月氏胡的生活区域，西汉时归西域都护管辖。都护辖境内各少数民族首领，“自译长、城长、君、监……至侯、王，皆佩汉印绶”。“汉归义羌长”印应该是发给当时沙雅地区羌族首领的官印。https://kdl.gov.cn/tzbDetail/cid/1840/aid/115061, accessed 29 Dec 2025 ↩︎ - Yeh Ch’iu-yuan 葉秋原, The Lore of Chinese Seals. CHINA HERITAGE QUARTERLY, China Heritage Project, The Australian National University, ISSN 1833-8461, No. 29, March 2012. accessed 29 Dec 2025
In connection with the seal, there was evolved in the Han dynasty an elaborate system of doctrines and traditions. Thus, besides the seal proper, there was evolved a system of shou 綬, or the cord fastened on the seal, and niu 鈕, that is, the carved, or moulded, object on top of a seal through which the cord passed. Since there were seals for the emperor, the empress, members of the imperial household, and different grades of officials, so there were also different kinds of shou and niu to match. According to the rules in use in the Han dynasty, the emperor’s seal had a tiger niu and a shou made of silk threads in five colours, namely yellow (which was the dominating colour), red, deep green, light green, and white, having a length of two zhang (丈) and nine chi (尺). The seal of princes had a camel niu and a shou in four colours, namely red, yellow, deep green, and light green, having a length of two zhang and eight chi. The seal of a minister or a general had a turtle niu and a shou in purple and white, having a length of seven ch’ih. Besides these prescribed rules, there were other rules pertaining to the seal, the shou, and the niu used by different grades of officials, which we need not go into here.[5] Suffice it to say that no official who received less than two hundred piculs of rice a year was allowed to have a seal complete with a shou and a niu.
Apart from the rules regarding the use of shou and niu, there were other rules followed by the Han seal cutters. First, only the emperor’s and the prince’s seals were allowed to use the character xi 璽, while all others were either known as yin 印, or zhang 章, or by combining the two characters together, yin zhang 印章. Secondly, during the reign of Emperor Wudi (武帝, 140-87BC), all seals must contain five characters instead of the usual four by adding to them the character zhi ¬之. Thus, the seal of a minister would read Chengxiang zhi yinzhang 丞相之印章, instead of the usual Chengxiang yinzhang 丞相印章.
The reason why the emperor’s seal had a shou in five colours with yellow as the dominating colour, and the number of characters cut on the seal was five is this: In the early Han dynasty, there was in vogue a system of doctrines known as the yin and the yang and the Five Elements. No one knows exactly when these doctrines originated, though they are generally attributed to the speculations of a certain Zou Yan 鄒衍, a contemporary of King Hui of Wei (魏惠王, 370-55BC). At any rate, the system was already in existence when the Han dynasty was founded. According to this system, the Five Elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth were the manifestations of the yin and the yang. They form a cycle which constantly renews itself. Earth is vanquished by Wood, which yields to Metal, which succumbs to Fire, which is quenched by Water, which in turn is overcome by Earth, and so renewing the cycle. It was held that each dynasty reigned by virtue of one of the Elements, and fell when the predominance elapsed and gave rise to the succeeding Element. The Qin claimed to rule by virtue of Water, hence the Han dynasty which followed it was supposed to rule by virtue of Earth, the colour of which is Yellow and the number Five.[6] ↩︎
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