After casting Jiuding from Dayu and announcing the success of water control, Jiuding became a symbol of the unification of the world, and was regarded as a treasure of the country by the Xia Shang Dynasty. Unfortunately, after the fall of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Jiuding disappeared.
After Qin Shi Huang unified China, he ordered craftsmen to carve the Chuanguo Jade Seal with Heshi Bi. It is said that the jade seal is four inches square, carved with five golden dragons, and engraved with the eight characters of "Ordained by Heaven, Both Shou Yongchang", which became a new symbol of imperial power. It is regarded as a national treasure by successive dynasties.
Since the Qin Dynasty, successive dynasties have regarded the Chuanguo Jade Seal as the treasure of the country, and when the dynasties change, they all regard the acquisition of the Chuanguo Jade Seal as the first priority, because only by obtaining the Jade Seal can they represent their orthodox status.
However, with the frequent dynastic changes, the Chuanguo Jade Seal repeatedly changed its owner, and finally disappeared like Jiuding. However, the concept that the jade seal represents imperial power is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Later generations followed the example of the Qin state in carving jade seals, but the emperor also rarely used the eight-character jade seal script.
When Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, in order to make up for the lack of the emperor's jade seal, he ordered a number of jade seals representing the imperial power, most of which were four-character seals.
The four-character jade seals commonly used are: the imperial seal of "Emperor Respect" used to pay tribute to the Zongmiao Temple, the imperial seal of "Emperor's Relatives" used to give the clan to the clan, the imperial seal of "Respecting Heaven and Diligence" used by local officials such as The Taishou, and the imperial seal of "Table Chapter Classic History" used to visit the scriptures and classics of the world.
In addition, if you go out to inspect the four parties, the official documents related to this need to use another jade seal, and the specific content of the seal is unknown. But in any case, if the seal used is six words, it is an outlier.
In 1398, after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, his grandson Zhu Yunjiao succeeded to the throne as Emperor Jianwen.
In terms of the jade seal, he did not follow his grandfather's tradition, and actually ordered someone to carve a jade seal engraved with 16 characters on one side, called "Condensed Divine Treasure", and the seal text is "Mandate of Heaven Mingde, Table Zheng Wanfang, Jing Yi Zhi Zhong, Universe Yongchang".
Why this jade seal was carved, it is said that there is still a great history. When he was the emperor's grandson, the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao once dreamed that a god man gave him a heavy treasure with 16 words written on it, and when he woke up, he remembered this matter.
When he had just taken the throne, there happened to be a Western emissary who paid tribute to a very beautiful piece of snow-capped green jade, which was two feet square and dense and moist. In the second year of Jianwen, when he was sleeping in the Palace of Jai, he dreamed again, dreamed of something, and woke him up. After waking up, he ordered that the jade of the snowy mountain be carved into a large imperial seal.
In the spring of the third year of the third year, Xin Youshuo, condensed the divine treasure, told the Heaven and Earth Sect Temple, and the Imperial Heavenly Temple was congratulated.
This passage is recorded in the "History of Ming", to the effect that in the first month of the third year of Jianwen (1401), after a year of carving, the "Condensed Divine Treasure" was finally completed, and a ceremony was held to inform the Heaven and Earth Sect Temple, inform the whole country, accept the pilgrimage of the hundred officials of the Civil and Military Forces, and feast on the Hundred Officials at the Fengtian Gate.
From ancient times to the present, in addition to the jade seal of Emperor Jianwen, there are two sixteen-character jade seals in Chinese history, one is the jade seal carved by Emperor Wencheng of Northern Wei " Fule Richang, Forever Protecting Boundless, Fulu Rizhen, Long Enjoy Ten Thousand Years"; the other is the jade seal named "Destiny Treasure" by Emperor Huizong of Song, engraved with "Scope Heaven and Earth, Praise God". Baohe Taihe, long life without boundaries."
In history, there were only three sixteen-character jade seals, the Northern Wei Wencheng Emperor was only three inches in size, the Song Huizong was only nine inches in size, and the Jianwen Emperor was two feet in size, the largest.
Moreover, the sixteen-character jade seal has always been regarded as an ominous thing.
After the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed by the Jin soldiers, Emperor Huizong of Song was taken captive by the Jin people to the north and directly destroyed the country. Less than a year after Emperor Jianwen carved the jade seal, he was conquered by Zhu Di, the King of Yan, and lost his country, and finally disappeared.
Emperor Huizong of Song lost his country mainly by appointing Cai Jing and other traitorous ministers, who did not do the right thing, thus losing the great country and mountains. However, the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjiao appointed a group of Confucian masters such as Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru, and Qi Tai, and he was benevolent and diligent, and actually lost Jiangshan.
In fact, from emperor Jianwen's carving of this jade seal, you can get a glimpse of it and generally understand why he lost his country. After Emperor Jianwen succeeded to the throne, he heeded the advice of Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai and began to cut the domain.
In the first year of The Jianwen Emperor (1399 AD), Zhu Di, the ambitious King of Yan, accused Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng of being traitors, and under the banner of "Qing Jun's side, Jingguo Difficulty", openly sent troops south, and the Battle of Jingnan began. Emperor Jianwen's army was repeatedly defeated by Zhu Di, the King of Yan.
Emperor Jianwen was awakened in a dream, probably worried that his throne was not secure, at this time it was not a plot to break the enemy, but to carve the jade seal, the jade seal is two feet long, the size is large, it is inconvenient to carry, it is more inconvenient to use, and it consumes financial, material and manpower.
In the absence of being able to win the battle, Emperor Jianwen's attachment to such a thing as carving a jade seal was more like declaring to the world what he had received in his destiny and gaining his own momentary comfort in his heart, and Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru and other pillars of the imperial court even acquiesced to this way.
When Zhu Di attacked Nanjing, only the sixteen-character jade seal was not taken away, and it was estimated that it was also because the size was too large to carry. After Zhu Di saw this Fang Yuxi, he once lamented that Emperor Jianwen was seduced by Fang Xiaoru and Huang Zicheng and failed to govern the country well, but instead did these red tape things, and in the end it was still a void.
Indeed, as Zhu Di said, Emperor Jianwen and his ministers were only vain in their ambitions, but it was difficult to have practical deeds, they were not pragmatic at all, and they did some grandiose things. This is a group of corrupt Confucians who talk about ideals and have little practical experience, who do not understand that the loss of the country becomes inevitable due to the changes of the times and events.
References: History of the Ming Dynasty, Wan Liye
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