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