Jade Seal: Refers specifically to the emperor’s jade seal, which is a symbol of prestige and supreme power. In China, the first person to possess it was Qin Shi Huang Ying Zheng. Seal first appeared in the Zhou Dynasty, and it was not until the Qin Dynasty that the distinction between seal and imperial seal was established.
How did the jade seal come about
After unifying China, Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered the carving of an imperial jade seal, which he called the “Emperor’s Seal”. According to historical records, this seal was carved from white jade from Lantian, Shaanxi Province, with a radius of four inches and features dragon, tiger, and phoenix knobs, some say dragon, fish, and bird knobs. On the front of the jade seal, there are eight characters written in seal script by the Prime Minister Li Si, which read “entrusted to heaven, with longevity and eternal prosperity”, as a token of “divine imperial power and legitimate legitimacy”.
In the generation of Empress Wu Zetian, the homophonic sound of “seal” was avoided and replaced with “treasure”. From then on until the Qing Dynasty, the seals of emperors, empresses, and kings were all called “treasure”, such as the Ming Dynasty’s “Treasure of Lu Wang” and the Qing Dynasty’s 25 imperial seals.
What does the jade seal represent
The jade seal is a symbol of the feudal dictatorship maintained by rulers of various dynasties in history. The Forbidden City was the residence of the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and also the largest imperial palace in the world. There are nearly a million treasures from various historical periods stored here. But among the many treasures, only the jade seal can best represent the emperor’s supreme authority and status.
As Emperor Qianlong once said, ‘To govern the universe and promote economic development, we must not prioritize national treasures over the emperor.’. Chinese rulers throughout history have attached great importance to the jade seal and regarded it as a symbol of the country, a proof of the emperor’s governance of the world. The Forbidden City houses nearly 5000 pieces of Ming and Qing jade seals, of which 25 were designated during the Qianlong period alone, and later generations referred to them as the “25 Treasures”.
Auction a jade seal at a sky high price
As a national treasure, the value of the jade seal is naturally not low, but to what extent can this high priced “high” reach? I believe people who come into contact with the circle will laugh but remain silent, because the value is just too shocking. This “Qianlong Imperial Treasure” seal was auctioned at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Spring 2022 for HKD 48 million and ultimately sold for HKD 131 million, with a commission of HKD 153334000. Breaking the Asian auction record for precious stones, it also surpassed the 2021 Sotheby’s spring auction in Hong Kong for HKD 145691000 to sell the Qing Qianlong Emperor’s imperial jade “Ji En Tang” seal, becoming the highest priced precious stone in Sotheby’s history.
Why collect jade
There is news about the sky high price of jade seals every year, and after reading it, some people may ask, why not use this money to invest in real estate? Because from the attribute of Hotan Jade, it is more an investment in culture, emotion and identity. Investing in a piece of jade may not make you rich overnight, but culturally speaking, playing with jade is a sure bet. Hidden jade, you are also wandering in the long river of culture, witnessing the evolution of jade culture and the historical changes of China over thousands of years. Since ancient times, China has been fond of using feng shui to analyze power. A jade seal is like the eye of a dragon’s den, placed in the home, it exudes a powerful aura, with favorable winds and rains, and a powerful pulse that enters the body.
