"Guitian Lu" says: "It is customary to use cursive script as a sign."; Song Hongmai (1123-1202 AD) "Rongzhai Wubi": "The cursive script used to sign the names of ancient books is applied to the records to identify the ears." "So the earliest appearance of "zhu" was a form of handwriting or a signature action. Most of them emphasized the "writing" form, with less discussion of the "symbol" form, and it had not yet appeared in the form of a seal. The explanation given by the "Chinese Dictionary" is: "Signing or drawing symbols on official documents or contracts as proof of trust. It also refers to the name signed or the symbol drawn." Both the "writing" form and the "symbol" form are discussed. and.

There are many records of the use of painted seals in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. King Pu of the Song Dynasty (the first year of the Western Yuan Dynasty) "Tang Hui Yao? Hundred Officials Report" states: "On February 26, the third year of Jinglong, all officials If you want to report important events, please record a copy of the report three days ago and order the officer to take custody of it." Huang Bosi of the Song Dynasty (1079 ~ 1118 AD) said in "Dongguan Yulun": "In a book of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Wen ordered the ministers to report the use of real grass, but the name was not grass. Later generations named the grass as monogram, Wei Zhi Wuduo "That's right." "Yijian Bingzhi" by Song Hongmai (1123-1202 AD). "Zhouzhuangzhong": "In Zhouzhuangzhong, I was admitted to the imperial examination in the second year of Jianyan. I dreamed of coming to the palace, and a man holding a written order was recorded." "Xingui Miscellaneous Knowledge" written by Song Zhoumi (1232~1298 AD) said: "The ancients recorded The word is called a monogram seal, which is slightly flowery in name, such as Wei Zhi's five clouds." Huang Bosi quoted the explanation of "Cu" in "The Biography of Wei Zhi in the Book of Tang Dynasty", and first pointed out "Cu". It is not only a text but also a symbol and totem concept. "History of the Song Dynasty? Gaozongji": "You must first sign and then report." Gu Yanwu's "Rizhilu? Miscellaneous Things? Signature": "Collecting ancient records, there are equal signatures of emperors and generals of the five dynasties in one volume. The so-called signatures are all written in cursive. Its name is now called a calligraphy stamp. Therefore, the appearance of a calligraphy seal is to prevent fraud and forgery. It can further be used as a basis to show trust, and it has the same function of showing trust to others as a seal.

The writing of the calligraphy directly reflects personal habits and creativity. Only the person knows what he is writing based on, so it is difficult for others to fake it. "Rongzhai Wubi" says: "Today there is a big calligraphy on Wuxi River. The original text says: "The calligraphy originates from the heart, and what is recorded in the heart cannot be known by anyone." It also says: "The official of Liudu wanted to name it after a strange person. , the word "Yingzhang" is left, I don't know why. "

Because "尧" is the same as "ya", "Three Kingdoms? Wei Zhi? King Fang Biography of Qi" states: "General Sima Jing will be deposed. The Emperor heard that the Empress Dowager had written annotations in "Shishuo" and "Weishi Chunqiu" written by Song Fei Song of the Southern Dynasties: Xu Yun, the leader of the army, conspired with the ministers on the left and right, and because of King Wen's resignation, he killed them and restrained his troops to retreat from the general. After writing the edict, King Wen came in and the emperor was eating millet. Youren Yunwu and others sang: "Green-headed chicken, green-headed chicken." King Wen refers to Sima Zhao. "Duck" is a homophony of "qi". Youren sang "green-headed chicken" to secretly urge Cao Fang to sign the edict to kill Sima Zhao. The connection between them can be illustrated in the seal of "Wang Ya" (Fig. 1). The interpretation of Yuan'an is such as "Wang's". "Wang" refers to the text part, and "Y" refers to the symbol part. As mentioned in the literature in the previous section, "cursive script is a signature", "cursive script is a signature", "signature or symbol", "name is slightly flowery", "cursive script is a monogram", "cursive script is the name", the above are called " The explanation of "sign" refers mostly to signatures and signatures, and does not involve too many "images" and "symbols". "Tang Shu Wei Zhi Biography" states: "Zhi Wei signed his name and said that the character "Zhi" in the book was Ruo Wuyun. People at the time admired him and named him Xi Gong Wuyun style." If the character "Zhi" is changed, the name will be slightly fancy. It should not be difficult to imagine that "" is written into a shape similar to "five clouds". Therefore, the symbols (non-text) transformed into many characters and symbols are closely related to the application of cursive script and text decoration. Wei Zhi's "Five Cloud Style" is an important material for the symbols transformed from written characters.

As you sign your name and become more proficient in writing, it is natural for your handwriting to approach cursive fonts.

Another reason for the popularity of seal seals is undoubtedly the period after the Mongols took over China. The Mongols took over the Central Plains. Among the four ethnic levels divided by the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolians and Semu people with the highest status were mostly illiterate in Chinese characters. Therefore, in the "I can't hold a pen or draw a seal" in my dealings with the government, and I don't even know the seal script of the Han people, which is like a heavenly book. Tao Zongyi of the Yuan Dynasty mentioned in the second volume of "Nancun Shuigeng Lu": "Nowadays, most of the Mongolian people who are officials cannot write monograms. For example, they use ivory or wood carvings to print them. The purpose was to be inscribed on a jade book, which would not be used unless it was specially gifted." According to Tao Zongyi's explanation, it is speculated that the Mongolian Semu people are a nomadic people. It is easy to hold swords and guns, but it is especially difficult to write Chinese characters, so the hand-written inscriptions were replaced by fixed inscriptions. This resulted in the heyday of stamp printing in the Yuan Dynasty. The seal, which was slightly used in the Tang and Song Dynasties, quickly became popular among officials and people alike, just like a spark that started a prairie fire.

According to the "Documents Unearthed from Black City", "Among the various types of documents, the author checked that there are 13 types of seals with black ink seals, totaling 108 places. There are 12 categories of seals with black ink signatures, totaling 108 places." 122 places. Among them, there are 5 people who stamped the document in red ink: W397 in black ink, and three people signed it in black ink. A total of 8 people used "printing" and "signing" on the document at the same time. The simultaneous use is the "joint signature" method introduced earlier. " (Figure 3) The same official document contains both the signature and sealing methods, which means that the two methods of signaling can be used at the same time and have the same effect. This also shows that painting and sealing were used at the same time and in the same place, and indirectly reveals the bridge between "painting" and "printing".