Emperors' seals

There is a senior craftsmaster who embarked on a project to engraved the seals of all the known emperors of China in history. He knew that nobody had ever done this before. If he succeeded, it would be the first of its kind in the history of China.

This was a very difficult task as there were over 350 emperors in the history of imperial China, from Shi Huangdi (from the first emperor to Puyi the last emperor of the Qing dynasty). The task was also complicated as he and his sponsor had to use fine quality seal stones to match the status of these emperors. Even though the job seemed almost impossible, the master knew that the impact of the project was great. This was because nobody had ever done this before. The project also had significant meaning as it would showcase to the world the rich history of imperial China. So they both went hunting for the appropriate materials to carve these seals. All the seals would be carved out of all the famous seal stones such as Qintian, Shoushan, Chicken blood and the Balin stones.

All the materials for the seals of the emperors were chosen except for one female emperor (Wu Zetian 武则天 of the Zhou dynasty, actually she snatched the throne from her son's Tang dynasty and called her reign the Zhou dynasty). The master wanted to use a chicken blood stone for this woman emperor's seal. But he could not fine one suitable one as he did not want to carve her face on the reddish part of the stone. The sponsor eve had to live in Changhua (the birth place of the rare chicken blood stones) for a few months waiting for some one with the right material.

Finally one day a villager called the master saying that he had the stone they wanted. True enough when the master met up with the villager, he found the stone he had wanted all this while to carve the seal of Wu Zetian. However, the price was increditably high, 300000 RMB. The master took a few months to persuade the villager to drop the price to 150000 RMB. Eventually after many rounds of negotiation, they finally settle at a price of 158000 RMB. As this is his last seal to carved, he immediately started work on the seal of Wu Zetian.

Wu Zetian seal of chicken blood stone

When he had finished the project, all the seals were put on exhibition and received praises from his peers. The project was considered holistic as it showcased to the world the rich history of imperial China. Later he won a hold award for his world during an national event to recognize engraving artists in China.

The seals of all known emperors of China (350)

The master and his work

The whole set of emperors' seal stones are now housed in a company in Shanghai. If you happen to be Shanghai, do visit the company and see this great work of art from this extraordinary artist.

The story of Wu Zetian (from Wiki)

Wu Zetian  武则天 (February 17, 624 – December 16, 705), also known as "Empress Wu", was a Chinese sovereign, who ruled officially under the name of her self-proclaimed "Zhou dynasty", from 690 to 705. She was the only female emperor of China in more than 4,000 years. She had previous imperial positions, however, under both Emperor Taizong of Tang and his son Emperor Gaozong of Tang, of the Tang dynasty of China. Wu was a concubine of Emperor Taizong. After his death she married his successor and ninth son, Emperor Gaozong, officially becoming Gaozong's furen (variously translated as "empress", "wife", or "first consort") in 655, although having considerable political power previous to this. After Gaozong's debilitating stroke in 690, Wu Zetian ruled as effective sovereign until 705. She is the only recorded woman to rule China in her own right.

Find out more from this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Zetian

Mother of chicken blood stone

There is s a huge chicken blood stone on display in Huayjou, some 2 hours drive from Beijing. This stone weighs almost 2 tonnes. The largest of its kind on display, the Guinness's record testified its enormous size. As the price of the chicken blood stone has escalated steeply over the last decades, who knows how much is this huge piece of chicken blood stone worth.

Guinness's world record

Traces of chicken blood on the stone

This huge precious bolder being transported from a mountain

It took workers one month to move the stone from the mountain site to the plain below. The owner did not want to cut up the stone as it is not easy to obtain a stone of this size.

High quality stone is made into seals selling for over millions of RMB

Proud owner of this huge precious rock

Do you know how was this stone being mined from the mountain of Changhua, its birth place, in ancient time some 300 years ago?

First they burned the site containing this precious stone with intense fire. Then, they poured water over it for rapidly cooling. The sudden contraction caused the boulder to dislodge from the mountain side where the stone was attached to. The miner then retrieved the chicken blood stone.

Fire heated up the base of the stone

Water cooling the hot stone

Chicken blood stone uncovered

There have been a lot of fake stones in the market. Some are just made from plastics while others have a coating of real stone on ordinary stones.

 

The photo above shows 3 chicken blood stones. Only one is genuine. Do you know which one is real? Experts say you need to feel the stones, real stones have a cold feeling while plastic materials feel warn on your hand. The other way is to use a lighter to burn the stones, plastic ones will give off toxic fume. For the fake with a top coat of genuine stone, check for evidence of joints and the flow of the texture on all its sides. The one on the centre of the photo is a genuine chicken blood stone. The one on the right is made of polymeric material while the one on the left is a stone coated with a layer of genuine stone.

This stones put together reveal a character

This Chinese character Gong means a lot to the Chinese people. It can mean an elderly figure, justice, of public, and many other meanings.

The logo of the Beijing Olympic Games

In the recent Olympic Games held in Beijing, the official logo was carved in this seal stone.

Beautiful stones

There are some stones that have unique features on them. Overnight they become collectors' darlings and fetched millions in auction houses.

The stone above depicts a small chick being hatched. The egg shell cracks open and the chick reveals itself to the world. This stone fetched a record 130 millions RMB in an auction for rare stones.

This stone shows a scene every one in China is familiar with, that is a scenery appeared in a 5 RMB note. The first owner found it along a river bank and later sold the stone for 20000 RMB. When the same stone was auctioned for 2 millions, he regretted for having sold it in the first place. He later found another stone with the features that resemble another scene that appeared in the 10 RMB note. This time he said he will not sell it again as this type of stone is hard to come by.

This particular stone shows two figures (father and son) fishing by the beach. This is unique in that the stone depicts a strong bonding between father and son. It is an ideal gift to give to your love ones, if you can afford it.

 

This one shows the image of a girl (at the centre) and that of a baby (on the right). No wonder rare stone collectors in China are keen to possess this type of art from nature. If you happen to see some interesting stone that look like some art form, remember there is a market for such things in China.