In this article, let's talk about the Eastern Han Dynasty seal.
According to the principle of periodization by era, we divide the seals of the Eastern Han Dynasty into three periods, namely the early Eastern Han Dynasty, the middle Eastern Han Dynasty, and the late Eastern Han Dynasty. As shown in the figure:
(Eastern Han Dynasty Seal Periodization)
1. Early Eastern Han Dynasty
In the early Eastern Han Dynasty, from Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty, that is, from 25 AD to 88 AD. During this period, the style of the seal, are inherited from the Western Han Dynasty and the new Mangyin style, which is actually normal, the official seal of this period has not yet formed a new system, and the craftsmen of this period, also from the Western Han Dynasty and the new Mang, the skills of the craftsmen from generation to generation is also one of the reasons.
It is precisely because of the above reasons that the official seal of the early Eastern Han Dynasty, the printing style is more than the middle and late Western Han Dynasty or the Xinmang period, its production process is exquisite, the seal method of the printed text stops evenly, and the chapter method is mainly based on the evenly divided printing surface of Ren Shu Ren Mi, and the strokes of the printed text have the wind of the Western Han Dynasty and the new Mang, which is thick and dignified. For example, "Shuoning Queen Mother's Seal" (this seal is more famous, and China Post has been used as a postage label for printing and disseminating):
(The Queen Mother of Shuoning)
(The physical seal of the Queen Mother of Shuoning)
(The Seal of the Queen Mother of Shuoning)
Look, it seems that you can also find out the characteristics of the Eastern Han Dynasty, this square seal has revealed the unique "square pen" stroke end of the Eastern Han Dynasty seal, the Western Han Dynasty printing mold strokes at both ends of the pen or the pen cut off and add another knife (when the two ends of the strokes of the Western Han Dynasty seal are completed, the knife is turned to make it appear round and heavy), thus presenting the characteristics of "square", because of the characteristics of this knife "square", the overall printing style appears more tough, clean and healthy, full of spirit.
This "knife" is added to a more obvious seal, such as "Guangling Wangxi":
(Guangling Wang Xi)
(The original seal of the king of Guangling)
A closer look at the printing surface, both ends of the printing surface strokes, there are traces of clear straight cutting with a knife or chisel, and there is such a "square" element in the small round seal, which unexpectedly achieves the effect of rigidity and softness in aesthetics.
This is also one of the typical characteristics of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Look carefully at the "Guangling Wang Seal", it also has an obvious feature, that is, the strokes are thick, and the printing surface is extraordinarily full, and there are more full than it, such as "雒 (Luo's variant character) Yang Ling Yin":
(Decree of the Moon)
Full, so it can be magnificent, sharp, and show the taste of Jinge. Why is this the case? Because most of the seals of this period have adopted the method of chiseling, and in contrast, the process of casting seals is much more complicated, and in the complex process, many details of the seal have been repeatedly and carefully polished by craftsmen, and the breath obtained is upright, refreshing and dignified; In the process of chiseling, often directly hammering and punching on the printing surface without words, in the process of chiseling, the next chisel must be sure (because there is a sharp chisel in the front, and there is a hammer in the afterburner), powerful and full of momentum, so the lines are crisp, vigorous and straight.
Compared with casting, "chisel" is a direct engraving, which saves the opportunity to repeatedly polish when casting and printing molds, and after the printing surface is completed, it is more natural and interesting.
Similar to the Xinmang seal, there were also seals issued to ethnic minorities in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, such as "Han Xianbei led the people", "Han returned to Yiqiang and so on".
(Han Xianbei led the chiefs; Han Guiyi Qiang Chang)
The production process of this type of seal is slightly better than that of the ordinary official seal of the early Eastern Han Dynasty, perhaps because these seals are awarded to foreign lands and need to show the imperial atmosphere, so craftsmen with a higher level of craftsmanship are selected.
Another point is that there is already a considerable stock of general seals in this period, but the general seals of this period, because the country is relatively stable, do not need to be in a hurry, so the production process is not in a hurry, the process is guaranteed, and the printing style does not show the kind of vertical and horizontal freedom and rough obedience of the general seals at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Such as "Tiger Tooth General Chapter":
(General Huya Chapter)
In fact, this is the standard official seal style in the early Eastern Han Dynasty, which is no different from the civil seal. Therefore, the seal of the Eastern Han Dynasty generals has its uniqueness, but it must also be examined in stages.
Second, the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty
The middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty refers to the period from Emperor He of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, that is, from 89 AD to 167 AD. During this period, the socio-political economy began to decline, and seal making was only one aspect of it.
During this period, there were still skilled sealers, so there were also some prints that still retained a high production standard, such as "Ganling Stable":
(甘陵厩丞)
This square seal, although it is only the official seal of the management of the horse with a low rank, but its production is still excellent, and it is not inferior to the Western Han Dynasty; Look at its evenness and thickness, it seems to be similar to the official seal in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
But more printing, printing in the word, although there is no mistake in the use of words, but the seal engraving work has degraded to varying degrees, the strokes gradually become stiff, and the round thickness is also gradually lacking. For example, "Liguo Wuxiang" and "Anle Pavilion Hou":
(蠡国武相; Anle Tinghou)
The "Li" of "Liguowuxiang", the head lettering is wrong, the word "country", the middle part has lost its evenness, and even the whole print has not remained square; In "Anle Tinghou", "An" and "Le" have lost their alignment position, and the two horizontal strokes in the upper frame of the word "Ting" can no longer maintain the usual smooth state of connecting the left and right, which may actually be a "casual" state.
However, the seals issued to ethnic minority areas during this period still retain a high level of production, such as "Han Poyu Hu Chang":
(Han Poyu Hu Chang)
Carefully examined, this square seal, upright, dignified, its degree of refinement is no less than the Western Han seal.
3. Late Eastern Han Dynasty
The late Eastern Han Dynasty refers to the period from Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, that is, from 168 AD to 200 AD. During this period, the power of the state was controlled by foreign relatives, and the social economy became increasingly exhausted, followed by the decline of the system, people's livelihood, and culture, and then the frequent wars and constant wars.
During this period, the prints may inherit the works of the early and middle periods, such as "the part will be printed", but more often they are going to be sharpened, and the strokes tend to be square and firm, and then lose the "freehand", tend to be stiff, round and heavy, and gradually lose, although so, it is still full of the flavor of Fang Jin Shen Xiong. For example, "General Zuo Jun Sima":
(The part will be printed; General Zuo Jun Sima)
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the straight strokes of the square fold continued to develop to the extreme, and the strokes on the printing surface were plump to the extreme, becoming extremely fine seals with red, such as "the seal of the order" and "the seal of the new field order":
(Seal of the Order; Shinno Reiin)
This unique printing surface of the Eastern Han Dynasty evolved into the familiar "full white" seal in later generations, that is, the printing surface is full of white ground, and the red line only has a silk boundary to open the character strokes.
As for the unique and unique style of the Eastern Han Dynasty, we will leave it in the Three Kingdoms Seal and talk about it in detail, because it is too special.
([Carved bones] No. 8, some pictures come from the Internet, the copyright belongs to the original copyright owner)