The certificate of credence stamped with the national seal is available for the first time

In the exhibition hall of about 100 square meters, a reddish-colored document about one meter long is stored in a glass display case Particularly eye-catching, there are two red traditional Chinese characters "Certificate of Credence" on the right side of the document.

Li Xing, Director of the Editorial and Research Office of the Archives, told reporters that this is a copy of the credentials presented to the King of Sweden by Geng Biao, my country’s first ambassador to Sweden, in 1950. A standard copy of the credential, the size and style are exactly the same as the original. "Certificates of credence are handed over to foreign countries and we do not keep them ourselves. This time we copied them from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

Director Li said that what is very special is that in addition to In addition to the signatures of Chairman Mao Zedong and Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai, it is also stamped with the national seal or national seal. "Nowadays, our country's credentials no longer use the national seal. They are only signed by the head of state and signed by the foreign minister. The national seal is not required." Director Li said that this is the first time that the credentials stamped with the national seal are on display.

The secret of the birth of the "National Seal" of New China

In 1949, with the successive victories in the Huaihai, Liaoshen, and Pingjin battles, the birth of New China was imminent, and the Central People's Government was established The government's preparatory work has been stepped up, and the engraving of the national seal has also been put on the agenda.

Zhou Enlai explained the matter of handling the national seal

In June 1949, the new government preparatory committee was formally established in Peiping. Mao Zedong clearly stated in his speech that engraving the national seal is an indispensable task to complete all necessary preparatory work. Later, Zhou Enlai explained to Chen Shutong the engraving of the national seal.

The national seal represents the power of the People's Republic of China and the Central People's Government of the country, and symbolizes the authority of the country where the people are the masters of the country. It must be maintained well and reflect the new look of New China. Chen Shutong, who was very busy with work, entrusted some specific tasks to Deputy Secretary-General Qi Yanming.

Qi Yanming invited Zhang Yuecheng, Dun Lifu, Tang Zuishi and Wei Changqing, famous seal makers in the capital, to study and discuss together. They carefully studied everything from the materials used to make seals, the fonts used, the size of the seals, and who would engrave and seal them. , put forward practical plans for the central leadership to make decisions.

The national seal was made by a farmer's son

Zhang Yuecheng is from Xiaozhai Village, Xinhe County, Hebei Province. He was born in a poor peasant family in 1883 and only attended private school for a few years. When he was 14 years old, he walked hundreds of miles to learn the art at Liulichang Carving Shop in Beijing, and officially started his apprenticeship at the age of 18. He knew that his cultural foundation was weak, so he studied very diligently. He often sought advice from the literati who visited Liulichang and made rapid progress. As time went by, I became friends with these men of letters.

Zhang Yuecheng is also skilled in the art of bronze carving, which is unique in the capital. He applied the knife skills of bamboo carving to copper carving, which was vivid, elegant and unique, making him the most accomplished artist in the art of copper carving.

Precisely because he has such legendary seal-cutting experience and outstanding skills, he must be the one to engrave the largest seal in New China.

The Song-style fonts are majestic and stately above the national seal

The font of the founding seal is the most eye-catching. It went against the tradition of national seals of all dynasties and changed the seal style to Song style.

Song style characters are solemn and elegant, well-regulated and easy to recognize. When the central government decided to use Song script for the national seal, Mr. Zhang Yuecheng was extremely happy and repeatedly said, great, great. What's so good about it? He told his family: "Mao Zedong is a great person. The national seals of all dynasties have all used seal script, but he chose Song script. Song script is great, ordinary people can understand it and it is easy to recognize. *** Product The Party’s heart really cares about the people. “The use of Song fonts for the founding seal can be said to be a new trend for a generation. Later official seals were all written in Song script, which started from this time.

Today, this founding seal is still fully preserved in the Chinese Revolutionary History Museum as a historical witness to the birth of New China and the people’s ownership of the country.