With roots dating back thousands of years， Chinese seals are symbolic of identity， status， and culture.

A seal is used to mark important documents， pieces of art， contracts， or any other item that requires a signature. Typically， the seals are carved into stone， but they can also be made of wood， bamboo， bone， or ceramic. When the seals are used， they are dipped in either red ink or cinnabar paste.

The seal was first created in 221 BC. After the first emperor of China， Qin Shi Huang， conquered the six Warring States and unified China， he ordered his first imperial seal to be carved using beautiful white jade. The imperial seal was called the “Xi” and was only used by those in power. The emperors who followed used an imperial seal， but the number of seals changed depending on the dynasty and who was in power.

It wasnt until the Ming and Qing dynasties that the seals usage moved from the imperial to the personal， due to the expansion of the arts. Artists began using a stylized seal carving of their name to mark ownership of their works. Individuals also began using a personalized stamp for important documents. These non-official stamps were called “Yin”.

Today， seals are used widely for marking important documents. Seals are often accompanied by hand signatures as a more secure form of identification. Chinese calligraphy works and paintings are still marked with a personalized seal.

中國(guó)印章的歷史可以追溯到幾千年前，它們是身份、地位和文化的象征。

印章用來(lái)給重要的文件、藝術(shù)品、合同或需要簽名的物品做標(biāo)記。一般來(lái)說(shuō)，印章用石頭刻成，但也可以用木頭、竹子、骨頭或陶瓷來(lái)刻。使用印章時(shí)，需要沾上紅色的印泥或朱砂。

印章最早出現(xiàn)在公元前221年。在中國(guó)古代第一個(gè)皇帝秦始皇征服六國(guó)并統(tǒng)一中國(guó)后，他下令用精美的白玉雕刻他的第一個(gè)皇家印章?；始矣≌卤环Q為“璽”，只有當(dāng)權(quán)者才能使用。之后的皇帝便開(kāi)始使用玉璽，但玉璽的數(shù)量根據(jù)朝代和執(zhí)政者的不同而有所變化。

直到明清之際，由于藝術(shù)的不斷發(fā)展，印章開(kāi)始從皇家轉(zhuǎn)向個(gè)人使用。藝術(shù)家們開(kāi)始用個(gè)性化的方式在印章上刻上他們的名字，以表明他們對(duì)作品的所有權(quán)。個(gè)人也開(kāi)始在重要的文件上使用個(gè)性化的印章，這些非官方印章被稱為“印”。

如今，印章廣泛用于各類重要的文件。在文件上蓋上印章后還會(huì)手寫(xiě)簽名，這是一種更安全的身份證明方式。中國(guó)的書(shū)法和繪畫(huà)作品都蓋有作者的印章。

Word Bank

signature /'s?ɡn?t??（r）/ n. 簽名；署名

imperial /?m'p??ri?l/ adj. 帝國(guó)的；皇帝的

accompany /?'k?mp?ni/ v. 伴隨；與……同時(shí)發(fā)生

Strong winds accompanied by heavy rain attacked the village last Sunday.