A Research On The Official-seal System Of Han Dynasty

As official seal system is an important component of history of political system of a nation, research on official seal system plays a significant role in deeply understanding the social and political system of Han Dynasty and the history of Qin and Han Dynasty. The present study explores the official seal system by combining historical documents, materials and unearthed materials such as seals, lutes and Han bamboo slips. In this way, the research attempts to illustrate the managerial and implement system of Han official seals. Meanwhile, the present study also tries to investigate the relations between official seal system and administrative reign in order to get a relatively complete description of Han official seal system.Chapter One is mainly about subjects and significance of the research, as well as the literature review. Han's seals can be divided into official seals used to be the token to exercise power, and private seals used to prove the identification of a natural person. The official seals this study explores cover emperors'seals, the seals that the central authorities conferred to Feudatory princes, and local official seals such as ban-tong seal, along with the official seals that the central government awarded to ethnic minorities.In Chapter Two, the researcher makes a tentative study of the awarding system of Han chiefly by means of formulating the ranks and degrees of awarding official seals. Firstly, seals can be categorized into four grades: emperor seals, gold seals, silver seals, and copper seals according to the materials of the seals. Some subclasses are divided by distinguishing seal buttons, seal contents and seals shapes, which has constituted the basis for classification of Han official seals. Secondly, official seals of different ranks are awarded following various procedures correspondently, which embodies both the power and dignity of the emperor and the grades of official ranks.Chapter Three deals with managerial system of Han official seals in terms of forging, preserving and handing-in of the official seals. In early Han dynasty, manufacture of the official seals was no confined to the central government, and the local principalities are also entitled to making official seals. With the concentration of the power, emperor gradually took back the right to forge and print seals. The imperial seals of the emperor were managed by special officials while other inferior officials had to bring the seals with them and were not allowed to lend it to others. When officials were promoted, retired and committed crimes, they must hand in their official seals.Chapter Four touches upon implementation system of Han official seals. This study approaches this issue according to the grades of ribbons, the collocation of ribbons and seals, and the general and exceptional ways of using official seals. Ribbons, as an accessory to Han's robes of office, play a important part in the use of official seals. In the process of official seals'usage, there are some exceptions, such as the official seals awarded to meritorious minister. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the official seal system was destroyed due to social unrest and upheaval, and the official seals and ribbons were placed at the officials'office locations as a way of resignation.In Chapter Five, the researcher discusses the relations between official seal system and political sovereignty of that time. Implementation of official seal system deified the imperial power, solidified the position of the emperor, and managed officials of all rank effectively. In addition, the governments of ethnic minorities were also awarded official seal in Han Dynasty and thus the local ethnic authorities were also subsumed into central government. This is beneficial to preserving stability of the frontiers in Han Dynasty and it is also good for national amalgamation and the formation of Chinese people in the long term.