Yuxi characters in past dynasties

In the traditional political culture of China, the official seal of Qin Dynasty is regarded as the symbol of the orthodox dynasty.

"Guo Chuan Imperial Xi", also known as "Guo Chuan Xi", is the seal handed down by emperors after Qin Dynasty, and was carved by Qin Shihuang. Its Fiona Fang is four inches long, and it has five dragons in New Zealand. On the front, there are eight Chinese characters inscribed by Li Si, "Long live the order of heaven", as a token of "imperial power granted by God, orthodox and legal". Later, emperors of all dynasties took this seal as a symbol and regarded it as a rare treasure and a heavy weapon of the country. If you get it, it means that you are "destined to return". If you lose it, it means that your luck has run out. Anyone who ascended the throne without this seal was ridiculed as "Bai Di" and despised by the world as unconfident. As a result, people who want to seek great treasures compete with each other, resulting in repeated changes of ownership of the national purpose, which has been transferred to Chixian County, China for more than two thousand years. However, it finally disappeared and was never seen again.

According to historical records, Qin Shihuang made a national seal with a blue color (referring to lantian jade) and printed eight Chinese characters, saying, "I am a destiny, so I can live forever". So "since the Qin dynasty, it is said that I was ordered to seal. When I got the seal, I was told that there was really an order; Nothing is a seal, even the purpose is a' whiteboard'. " "The world thinks that the emperor is not in the Tao, but in the seal. The gains and losses of the seal are regarded as the continuation of destiny, or chronology, or false titles." Official seal is often the focus in the orthodox disputes of past dynasties, because good luck is an abstract concept after all and needs a materialized evidence to prove it.

This political and cultural tradition continued until the Song Dynasty.

Guo Weishi, the late Zhou Taizu, tried to spread the national seal all over the world, but in desperation, he could only carve two seals, such as "Dibao", and spread it to the Northern Song Dynasty.

In the fifth year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1098), Duan Yi, a citizen of Xianyang, presented an imperial seal to North Korea, so he called imperial academy, Yushitai, Libu, and the Secretary Province to hold a meeting to discuss. 13 after textual research according to the records of the previous dynasty, all of them thought that it was "a national treasure handed down before the Han Dynasty", so Zhezong "accepted it on another day" and changed it to a yuan symbol. However, many scholars in Song Dynasty did not believe this myth. Li Xinchuan, Zhao Yanwei and others believed that the real Qin Xi had already been destroyed by the Dong Zhuo Rebellion in the late Han Dynasty. The criticism of the Ming people hit the nail on the head: "It's the wisdom of writing another heavenly book! The year of Tian Shu is auspicious, and 2008 is the first year. It is not only a different way to test religious sects, but also a sign of the true sects in the college entrance examination. "

Although the politicians in the Song Dynasty continued to play this traditional political trick, the intellectual elites of that era had stepped out of the political superstition of passing the national seal. Liu Shu once confessed his views to Sima Guang: "The study of Daoism flourished in Han Confucianism, and the five elements were born together, and it was passed down from generation to generation as Daoism. If it is an artifact treasure, grab the throat and then let the rebels and thieves breathe a sigh of relief to carry out their ambitions. " Liu Shu's denial of the official seal is thorough. He didn't accuse Qin Xi of being untrustworthy, but he didn't recognize the value of Qin Xi and didn't agree with the orthodoxy of deifying Qin Xi. Hu Yin also said: "Qinshan is also good, but printing has nothing to do with it and is inappropriate; It is not good for Qin, and although the seal is beautiful, it is appropriate to strike it and break it. How can it be handed down from generation to generation? "Song Confucianism's complete denial of the official seal made it no longer regarded as a political and cultural symbol, which decided its fate of decline.

By the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Hui Zong was elegant and added ten more seals. At that time, many people laughed at him for gilding the lily, but in fact, Song Huizong seemed to downplay the status of the national seal. In the first year of Song Jingkang (A.D. 1 126), the nomads from the capital of song dynasty attacked the capital of song dynasty, and Emperor Hui and Qin were captured, while "Guo Chuan Xi" was captured by the state of Da Jin, and then disappeared.

However, a political event related to Qin Xi also happened in Yuan Dynasty. In the 31st year of Zhiyuan (1294), after the death of Kublai Khan, all the imperial clan kings got together to discuss the establishment of a new monarch. At that time, the main contenders for the throne were Jin Jin's eldest son Wang Jin Gammara and his third son timur. As the two brothers are evenly matched, it is still impossible to determine the heir to the throne after more than three months. At this critical moment, in the suggestion, Cheng presented a national seal, which is said to come from the family of Muqali's descendants, to timur's biological mother, the imperial concubine. Timur finally succeeded to the throne with the support of Bo Yan and Timur. Although Qin Xi made a big fuss about this matter, it is different from the previous generation and should be regarded as a special case.

In fact, the Yuan Dynasty did not attach importance to the inheritance of the national seal. Hao Jing said: "Qin seal was obtained after the death of Jin in modern times. I thought it was an ominous sign of national subjugation and entrusted it with it, but it was not a treasure." Can prove it. Cui Mi offered Qin Xi, which was obviously a temporary emergency. At that time, the words of Dong Wenyong, a bachelor of Hanlin, were quite explicit: "The division has been in Qin for more than 1,600 years, but it is not common in the middle. Today, when the emperor's grandson is in service, he will come out at the right time. This is the most important thing. " This shows what happened in Qin Xi. At best, it can show that the official seal still had some influence on the secular concept at that time.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was a clamor for "state decrees", but they were all copied. No one will believe it, and no one will take it seriously, which also shows that the official seal has no political appeal. In the 13th year of Hongzhi (1500), Mao Zhixue, a native of Zigui County, Shaanxi Province, won the imperial seal on the muddy shore. Xiong Yi, the satrap, thought he was coming back, so he sent someone to present it. "。 Fu Han, an official of the Ministry of Rites, said:' Stealing the seal is only to recognize the text and prevent fraud, not for fun. Lantian jade thought that the seal was obtained from Qin Shihuang, and it was later passed down by Han. Nature is clever for power and profit, which means that it is enough to be ordered, but I don't know whether it is an order to repay good for good. Therefore, if you can't get it, you can fake it to deceive people; If you get it, the monarch and ministers will be happy to show it to the world. It's been funny for thousands of years. .....' the emperor followed his words and did nothing. "

Another time was in the fourth year of the Apocalypse (1624). "People in Linzhang plowed the fields and got the imperial seal." The imperial seal was the same as that in Qin Xi. Cheng Shao, the governor of Henan Province, heard in the court: "Qin Xi has not levied for a long time. Today's seal, suitable for ministers, should not be buried underground, nor is it private. I want to send officials to the court, and I participate in tribute. The most important treasure is in Germany, but not in the SEALs. Therefore, I will put the news first and wait until the order stops. " After this incident, there was no more, and probably no more.

By the early years of the Qing Dynasty, there were thirty-nine imperial seals in the Forbidden City, one of which was called the "National Seal". When Qianlong was in Gaozong, it was easy to verify, and it must be a fake. However, there is no problem of taking falsehood seriously and mending it after it is too late. Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty also wrote an article "The Legend of the National Dynasty", which best reflects the true mentality of politicians in the Ming and Qing Dynasties in inheriting the national seal:

If you talk about treasure, you can't ask if it is Qin Xi, even if it is really Qin Xi! ..... In my opinion, a gentleman is not a treasure. Although the treasure is heavy, it is the ear; What's the difference between the prestige and reputation of Ming, and the flag and badge? No virtue is the danger of mountains and rivers, and the wealth of the earth is handed over to others. No one is self-sufficient by this small ruler.

According to Volume 26 of the Record of Dropping out of Farming, according to Xue Shanggong's Definition of Ancient Clock, there are two kinds of printed books handed down from generation to generation, one for Juyuan and the other for Cai. The "Qin Xi" obtained by Qianlong in three years is the same as Cai's, but it is accused of "imitation of good people". We can see that the criticism of official seals by politicians in Ming and Qing Dynasties is based on a common value orientation. Fu Han declared that "he was ordered to replace the seal with virtue", Cheng Shao said that "the supreme treasure is in virtue but not in seal" and Gao Zong said that "the monarch is in virtue but not in treasure", all of which expressed strong moral demands. The values advocated by them can be said to be in the same strain as those advocated by scholars in the Song Dynasty, which is enough to explain why the official seal was more and more accepted after the Song Dynasty.