Yesterday, the curator shared with everyone the story about The Imperial Jade Seal in "The Secret History of Xiaozhuang". He published the article with emotion, but he never expected that it would be loved by so many readers.
Unsurprisingly, the most popular response was that the Qing Dynasty jade seal was imitated, which made people think, What does this imperial seal, which symbolizes supreme power, look like? How did it disappear into the long river of history?
In order to uncover the answer to this mystery, the curator has consulted a lot of historical materials and done a lot of homework. Now let us experience the past and present life of the Imperial Seal. There may be some improper analysis, so please correct me!
一
1. The material of the Chuanguo Seal
Rumor 1: Regarding the material of the Chuanguo Seal, the earliest record is that it was made of Lantian jade.
l In the early days of the Eastern Han , scholar Wei Hong recorded in "Old Yi of the Han Dynasty": "Before the Qin Dynasty, gold, jade, and silver were used as square-inch seals. The emperor only used seals as seals, and only jade, so no ministers dared to use them. The jade comes out of Lantian Mountain, and the title is Li Si book";
l The "Jade Seal Genealogy" written by Ji Sengzhen, a native of Qi in the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, records: "It is said that the national seal was carved by Qin Shihuang Chu Ding Tianxia, and its jade came out of Lantian Mountain , written by Prime Minister Li Si."
These historical records from different periods corroborate each other, indicating that the material of the national seal is said to be Lantian jade.
Rumor 2: There is another theory in later generations. It is said that the national seal was carved by He Shibi.
l The first person to put forward this statement was Cui Hao during the Northern Wei period. He wrote in "Han Ji Yin Yi": "It is said that the national seal was made by Heshi Bi." However, this statement has been discontinued. It was denied by scholars of later generations.
二
2. The past and present life of Chuan Guo Xi
Regarding the origin of Chuan Guo Xi, it is said that " In the nineteenth year of the Qin Dynasty (228 BC), Qin defeated Zhao and obtained He's Bi. After that, he unified the world, Yingzheng called him the first emperor, and ordered Li Si to take Lantian jade and carve the national jade seal in small seal script. On the front, there are eight insect and bird seal characters "Ordered by Heaven to live forever and forever", which was carved by the jade worker Sun Shou.
However, in the twenty-eighth year of the Qin Dynasty (219 BC), Qin Shihuang was crossing Dongting Lake in a dragon boat. When the wind and waves suddenly rose, the dragon boat was about to tip over. Qin Shihuang hurriedly threw the imperial seal into the lake. In the middle, he prayed to the gods to calm the waves. Eight years later, someone from Pingshu Road in Huayin presented the imperial seal to the Qin Dynasty.
The jade seal changed hands many times, as shown in the picture below:
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the eunuchs took over the power and the Shichang servants caused chaos and killed the general He Jin. The young emperor and King Chenliu left the palace to seek refuge. After returning to the palace in a hurry, they had no time to carry the jade seal, but Chuan Guoxi was nowhere to be found.
Later Dong Zhuo burned Luoyang , and Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty moved to Chang'an Sun Jian, who participated in the crusade against Dong Zhuo, led troops to Luoyang ruins to clean and worship the Han Dynasty ancestral temple. , found a five-color light coming out of a well. Sun Jian sent people to fish it out, and saw a small box tied around the neck of the palace maid who threw herself into the well. The seal was given to his wife Wu for safekeeping.
Later Tang During the leap month of Xinsi in the fourth year of Qingtai, Emperor Li Congke of the late Tang dynasty and his family and the Empress Dowager Cao set themselves on fire in Xuanwu Tower.
The follow-up story about the Chuanguo Jade Seal is even more confusing, with ups and downs. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were occasional clamor for the "Chuanguo Jade Seal" to appear, but they were all imitated and fake. For example, during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, someone once presented the so-called "Jade Seal of the State", but Emperor Xiaozong recognized it as a fake and did not use it.
Huang Taiji destroyed Mongolia Lin Dan Khan , and his descendants dedicated the so-called Yuan Dynasty "National Seal". During the Qianlong period, Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty was very good at research and decided that it was a fake. But Quan takes the false as the true and makes up for it, and there is no one who goes into it deeply. Later in the late Qing Dynasty, this jade seal was stored in the Forbidden City in Shenyang and disappeared.
Until November of the 13th year of the Republic of China (AD 1924), the last emperor Puyi was expelled from the palace by Feng Yuxiang. This "Jade Seal of the Nation" disappeared. At that time, Feng's general Lu Zhonglin and others pursued this gold-inlaid jade seal, but there was still no trace of it.
At this point, the Jade Seal disappeared from the world, the dynasty ended, and China entered the new century. After more than two thousand years of ups and downs and confusion, the "Jade Seal of the Nation" appeared and disappeared, and was finally lost in the long river of history... Historical background, the Chuanguo Jade Seal has had unimaginable political significance from the day it was formed. Because Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor, and this imperial seal was engraved by Qin Shi Huang himself, symbolizing supreme power. Therefore, in the following thousands of years of history, this imperial seal almost represented the supreme imperial power.
Legally speaking, whoever owns this jade seal can legally become the emperor. Because this national jade seal itself represents the destination of destiny. Of course, if you really want to conquer the world, you still have to look at the strength of your subordinates. But no matter what, one item can be used as evidence of the legitimacy of the throne. The value of this item is naturally beyond imagination, even more than thousands of troops.
Maybe one day in the future, this lost jade seal will reappear in the world. Maybe we will never see it again. What the outcome will be depends on how future generations will write it!
