1. Interpretation of the main materials of seals in Ming and Qing Dynasties:
1. Among the official seals before the Ming Dynasty, copper was the most, and the printed materials printed privately were wider. After the Ming Dynasty, the printing materials were mainly milky white.
Elaeagnus Elaeagnus is softer than gold, copper and other metals and can be easily sealed with a knife. Therefore, most seals carved with Elaeagnus elaeagnus give people a sense of leisure and coherence. Metal seals are different, such as copper seals, which are usually cast first and then engraved, so it is very difficult. From the price point of view, flower milk stone is produced in Shan Ye, which is not as expensive as gold, jade, horns and teeth. From the point of view of seal art appreciation, the flower-milk stone contains beautiful natural patterns and different colors. After polishing, its beauty is even far better than jade. Based on the above three reasons, once discovered in the Ming Dynasty, it quickly spread and became a common material for seals.
2. Detailed classification of Elaeagnus Elaeagnus:
Elaeagnus Elaeagnus is a general term, and it has its own name because of different places of origin. The most famous are Qingtian stone, Shoushan stone and Changshou stone.
Qingtian Stone Qingtian Stone is produced in qingtian county, Zhejiang Province. Shankou, Shushan, Fangshan, Yanlong, Baimen and Fengmenshan in the southeast of the county are famous for producing this kind of stone, especially Fangshan. Qingtian stone is generally mixed with hard stone, and it is rare to see large pieces. Its texture is delicate and moist, easy to carve, and can fully reflect the writing style and form of fonts. The colors are yellow, white, blue, green and black, and frozen stone is the best. The so-called "freezing" refers to delicate and transparent stones, which are divided into several grades, and light freezing is the most expensive.
Light freezing: this kind of stone is transparent and pure, emitting light, so it is called light freezing. It is the top grade of Qingtian stone, which can be described as a stone among stones. Its color is slightly yellow in white, its texture is firm and fine, and its price is better than jade.
Yellow jelly: the color is like beeswax, bright and lovely, slightly inferior to light jelly.
Fish brain jelly: white as fish brain and bright as jade.
Tian: As white as jade.
Mo Tian: Pure black.
Soy sauce jelly: brownish yellow flowers, or dark yellow with gray, also known as horn jelly.
Pine jelly: It has red, yellow and black stripes and is slightly harder than other stones.
White jelly; The pale yellow foundation is all green, as pure as cooked longan.
Mint jelly: green with light gray, even and moist texture, also known as Megan.
Red sandalwood jelly: purple is slightly yellow.
Shoushan Stone Shoushan Stone is produced in Shoushan, Houguan County, Fujian Province (now under Furong Peak, 30 kilometers north of Fuzhou City, Fujian Province), also known as Tashan Mountain. Shoushan stone is harder and more detailed than Qingtian stone. Due to the different quality and origin, Shoushan Stone is different from Tiankeng, Shuikeng and Shankeng. Tiankeng refers to the top grade of Shoushan stone, which is produced in Gushan Mountain Bay. The puddle refers to the place that is produced in the rock sinus of the mountain stream, which is second only to the place where the sinkhole is produced. Shankeng refers to the place where Shoushan Stone was first discovered. According to historical records, Shoushan stone was mined as early as the Song Dynasty, but it was not used to make seals at that time, but was processed into various stone carving gadgets, which were very popular and sold well. Later, due to a large number of mining, the fields and roads were destroyed, and the Song Dynasty banned mining, which was ignored for hundreds of years. Until the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Fujian native Chen accidentally discovered that Shoushan stone could be engraved with seals, and the finished products were elegant and exquisite, so he went into the mountains for mining and gradually made Shoushan stone a treasure in the world. According to the three pits of Shoushan Stone, this paper introduces the identification and collection of Shoushan Stone.
Tian Huang: Also known as Praseodymium Yellow. There are four colors of yellow, white, red and black, and its texture is like a tree heart pattern, which is getting denser and denser. The surface pattern has spots similar to clam skin, but the internal pattern is like radish or orange meat pattern. Tianhuang is divided into several grades according to its natural color, among which orange peel is the most expensive, followed by golden yellow, osmanthus yellow, cooked millet yellow and loquat yellow. The top grade of Tian Huangshi is much more precious than gold and jade.
Turin pit: it is both a pit and a pit. It was excavated in the early years of Qing Daoguang. It has three colors: yellow, white and red. Its texture is slightly stronger than silvery yellow, completely transparent and translucent, with occasional sand spots and white spots. If it is pure and flawless, radish lines will appear faintly, among which golden yellow is the most expensive, followed by osmanthus yellow and loquat yellow.
Mi Cuiliao: It is produced at the top of Dulingkeng, and its texture is delicate, which is not as thorough as Turin. Have a plenty of pure yellow, similar to Tian Huang, have a plenty of yellow with gold spots:
Fish brain jelly: also known as white crystal, is the top grade in puddles, among which potholes and crystal caves are the most expensive. Hard and transparent. The color is white if it is frozen, and yellow is crisp.
Sky blue ice: also known as blue sky, it is also produced in Kengtou and Crystal Cave 2. Fine texture, imitation cotton grain. Its color is pure and spiritual, such as after rain, it is second only to fish brain jelly in puddles.
Horn jelly: produced in potholes, the color is like horn, but it is brighter and more aura than horn. There are patterns such as rhinoceros horn, the color is yellow, the radish pattern is the top grade in white, followed by blue and white.
Gua flesh red: also known as meat fat, produced in potholes. Its red color is as bright as peach blossom in Sanchun, and its white color is as pure as jade.
Alpine frost: produced in high caves and other places. There are many stones and many colors in the mountain, which is the crown of all the pits in Shoushan. The colors are red, yellow, blue and white. There are pure white with red spots in the white, like stars in Changhua; There are white, crystal clear crystals, which are called alpine crystals. Among the red people, some are called beauty red, such as sarong and jade body.
Hibiscus jelly: the texture is delicate and round, and the freshness is slightly lower than that of white crystal. White lotus root tip is the most expensive, followed by lard white and snow white. There are light yellow and tender cyan (called hibiscus green).
Qi Liang: translucent, shiny, mostly yellow and white, hard and easy to carve from the texture, yellow and dazzling, like an orange ripe in the sun.
Chang fossil. Mainly produced in Kangshan jade mine in Changhua County, Zhejiang Province, there are puddles and dry pits. The stone produced in the puddle is fine, and the stone produced in the dry pit is dry and hard, and it contains sand nails harder than iron, so it is difficult to carve, so the pit also produces Chang fossils. Because there are many red lumps in fossils, which look like chicken blood, it is also called "chicken blood stone". There are two criteria to distinguish between good and bad fossils-texture and color. Sheep fat jelly is the most expensive texture, white as jade and translucent. The second kind is deep frozen, dark gray and translucent. The color is full red, followed by all-around red, opposite red, top foot red and partial red. If the texture is sheep fat jelly, the color is all red, which is the most precious and even more valuable than Tian Huang. Some Chang fossils are rough and the blood clots are not mature enough, so stone dealers fry them to expose the blood inside. If you don't know, it's easy to be deceived. In fact, the method of identification is also very simple. Just scratch the red place with a knife, and then compare it in a bright place to see if red is the same as the surrounding color. If it's different, it's probably fake.
These are just three kinds of famous stones, and their grades and types are far more than these. In addition, there are great turquoise (produced by Dasong in Ningbo, Zhejiang), Yindong Stone (produced in Guangzhou), Fangshan Stone (produced in Fangshan County, Beijing) and Liaoshan Stone (produced in Liaoning). However, these stones are generally poor in texture and lack of natural beauty in color and painted patterns, but they are very similar to famous stones in some places, so they are favored by counterfeiters and stone vendors.
In short, no matter where the stone comes from, it is better to come from the old pit. Because these stones generally contain a lot of water, and the color is unbeaten and easy to seal. The texture of the new pit is too soft and easy to corrode. After several years of carving, cracks often appear, or Zhu Wen (Yang Wen) becomes thicker, while Bai Wen (Yin Wen) becomes thinner, the knife method loses its authenticity, and the color gradually becomes obsolete, losing its distinctive feeling.
II. Supplementary notes on other sealing materials:
Seal materials (printed materials for short) are different materials used for carving seals. Most of the materials used before Qin Dynasty were gold, silver, copper, rhinoceros horn and ivory, but from the official seal and private seal unearthed during the Warring States period, most of them were bronze seal, jade seal and lithograph, and rhinoceros horn and ivory seal have not been seen yet. From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, seals were still used to seal mud. The most common seal was bronze, with jade, gold, silver and iron in the middle. In feudal times, not only the printing names were graded, but also the official printed materials were graded. The order is that gold and jade are the most expensive, followed by silver, and then steel. However, there are no restrictions on privately printed materials.
After Sui and Tang Dynasties, seals were printed on silk paper, which was not limited by mud seal, and the types of printing gradually increased. Copper is the most common printing material. Porcelain seal appeared in Song Dynasty, which is a new printing material. At this time, the range of privately printed materials is wider, including bamboo, stone, jade, silver, horns and teeth. In short, before the Ming Dynasty, official seals were mostly copper, and private seals were widely used. After the Ming Dynasty, Elaeagnus elaeagnus was the main printing material.