Without chop, a piece of paper is just that. With it, the paper becomes a legally binding document that may involve the fate of a nation, the marital situation of a couple or the ownership of property.
In ancient times, the emperor's chop was a hereditary possession, zealously guarded and passed down through the succeeding rulers of a given dynasty. Those still existing are in the category of national treasures.
Similarly, chops continue to be symbolic of various government departments, offices and agencies. The chief administrator may change, but the chop does not. It must be turned over to the new officeholder, usually in a formal ceremony rich with tradition.
Checks also are chopped. Because such custom may be tempting to the chop forger, banks sometimes require the written characters as well as the chop. That also may be true for other important documents.
Not surprisingly, chopmaking has become an art only second to those of calligraphy and painting. There are many styles—ranging from the plain to such highly ornate decoration as lion's heads and dragons. Design of the artist may be accepted, or the individual can suggest his own.
Chops are collected much as are coins or stamps. Usually, the older the better, but artistry and historical importance also play their part in the establishment of value. Through history, the raw materials of chop making have ranged through gold, jade, precious stones, wood, brass, steel, ivory, crystal, copper and bamboo.
The first record of chops goes back to 1324 B. C. but they did not come into widespread use until the Chou dynasty (1122-225 B. C.). At first they were a pledge or credential of office and good behavior, and were worn at the girdle. They were to be seen, not used in the sealing or stamping of papers. The custom became so common that the expression hsi chieh, meaning seal of credential, is to be found in the Book of Rites of that time.
Jade for Nobility
Pendant chops usually were made of jade, which was regarded as the emblem of nobility. When a prince of the state wanted to see the emperor, he first presented the jade chop to verify his identity and rank.
Gradually, as dynasties changed and culture became more complex, the chop was applied to documents in the sense of seal or signature.
Chops of Ming dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.) At top, Ming scholar's chop says "reading improves the personality." The other Ming example shows departure from formalized style
Before paper was invented, Chinese used bamboo sheets and pieces of silk. Characters were cut into the bamboo sheet or written in ink on the silk.
When bamboo sheets were tied together with a cord, the knot was sealed with clay and the official chop impressed thereon. At this time chops were known as "clay-sealed" stamps.
With the appearance of paper, chops emerged from a status of ornamentation to that of sanction. The owner no longer presented his chop as a credential but stamped it in red ink on documents or letters. Finally, by the Tang dynasty (A. D. 618-907), chops were to become an art form.
Chops are classified in two groups: official and personal. Though generically known as chops, different names subsequently were given them in keeping with ranks of the owner. In addition to the names of offices and owners, the characters for hsi (seal), yin (chop), and chang (emblem) appeared.
In the Chou dynasty, chops were called hsi or seal. There was no distinction among classes. Both nobility and commoners used hsi, which later became a privilege of emperors only. Ordinary people could use jade chops, and the dragon emblem was not yet restricted to the emperors.
The absolutism of Emperor Chin ended the democratic era in the early history of chops. He decreed that the character hsi could be carved only on his great seal and the chops of his nobles. As for use of jade and the dragon motif, this was the exclusive prerogative of the emperor. For commoners, the word yin was to be used.
Category for Generals
A more detailed classification emerged from the Han dynasty, when there were great changes in Chinese culture. Chopmakers kept the hsi for nobles and the yin for commoners, but added chang—or "emblem"—for generals.
Later, Empress Wu of the Tang dynasty was to call her seal "treasure", while her people could identify their chops only as a sign or stamp.
Chops of Chin (221-209 B.C.) and Han (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) dynasties. From left to right across the two pages are Chin official chop, Chin personal chop, Prince Huai Yang's seal and Prefect's chop from Han era. (File photo)
Changes in the engraving of characters continued from the Sung dynasty to the Manchus, but they were mostly adaptations of the old forms.
Character carving for chops had much to do with developing the art of calligraphy. Before the Chin dynasty, the characters were carved in bas relief in their original form.
As the space on a chop is sharply limited, the strokes of a character subsequently were cut shorter or simplified. Characters became harder to recognize. This led to a sharper, block style that might be compared with the advance from gothic or block letter type to modern roman in western printing. The change came in the Han dynasty, and its effects were also felt in calligraphy and painting.
Some of the famous chops of those days are still preserved. They include the Grand Seal of the Emperor in the Han Dynasty (206 B. 0.-220 A. D.), Prince Huai Yang's Seal, Count Kuan Nai's Chop, Count Kuan Chung's Chop and the Prefect's Chop.
The high relief style came in with the Sui and Tang dynasties. The style of character-cutting also changed. This was the period when chopmaking emerged as an art, and the characters took on some of the aspects of paintings. Many new characters were created out of the artistic imagination. The meanings of some of them are lost in antiquity.
For Private Libraries
Chops were cut to identify private libraries which were extensive in ancient times. Other uses were for pseudonyms and even for the inscribing of brief poems and proverbs.
The most common style today is the block-type letter-but the cursive or text style is also used.
Tao Shou-po, who has made more than 30,000 chops, handles his knife delicately. (File photo)
Calligraphers and historians still study the art of chopmaking, which remains an honored profession as well as a popular avocation.
Tao Shou-po, a professional, and Professor Wang Chuan-wei of the Provincial Normal University are among the experts.
Tao Shou-po, a native of Kiangsu province, has studied chop carving and calligraphy for more than 40 years.
Starting study at 15 and work at 16, he gave attention to the chops of the Chin and Han dynasties. He learned the styles of Chao Wei-shu and Huang Mu-po, chopmakers of the Ching dynasty (1644-1912). He then devised his own approach, which has strength as well as delicacy.
30,000 Chops
Tao has cut characters ranging from the ornate to the plain style of today. His production exceeds 30,000 chops, including those he carved for former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and former Vice President Richard M. Nixon.
Tao has an establishment on Hsin Sheng South Road known as the Salon of the Ten Thousand Seals. He had carved more then 10,000 chops when he named it.
As Tao's friends say, he uses his engraving knife as he would a pen. Fingers are as dexterous as those of a surgeon.
"Engraving takes time," Tao says. "A chop could be carved in 10 minutes but the result wouldn't be worthwhile. An artistic original may require several days.
"It's easy to learn the fundamentals-but to cut a good chop, only long experience has value. It's the practice that makes perfect. To be a good engraver, one must work every day.
Hieroglyphs have the shape of a tiger (top) and dragon. These are popular as decorative and birth-year chops. (File photo)
"Knowledge of calligraphy and different styles of writing characters is essential. The characters are usually written before the carving begins. Then comes the all-important test of whether the knife will do what the mind commands."
Paints Plum Trees
Tao also cuts inscriptions on memorials and monuments. To relax from carving, he took up painting and has become a specialist in plum trees and their blossoms. His wife is a painter known for her orchids.
Tao has written on painting, seal-carving and the ancient Chinese tablets.
Professor Wang Chuan-wei teaches the art of seal-engraving at the Provincial Normal University.
Wang took up the art of carving at the age of 10. His father, also an expert, was his teacher.
Wang's style is artistic, easy to understand and strongly personalized. He says his knowledge of calligraphy helps him a great deal.
"Seal-carving became a popular art after the Yuan dynasty (1280-1368)," he noted. He attributed this to the discovery of stones (ching tien shih and shou shan shih) especially well adapted to chopmaking.
"These stones are found in places such as Ching Tien in Chekiang province. They are not so hard as copper, which was used earlier, and make carving easier.
"Scholars thus became able to make their own chops. This was not true before, because the copper was too hard to work.
Stones Expensive
Wang said that both the characters and the raw material are important in chopmaking. Collectors look for excellence in both. Some of the stones are worth their weight in gold.
Chopmaker Wang Chuan-wei has large collections of others' work. At right, his own skill is shown in simple chop he carved for Madame Chiang Kai-shek (top) and in ornamented seal for Minister George Yeh. (File photo)
Wang himself is a collector as well as artist He says the collection inspires him to greater perfection in his own carving.
For China, the emperors and courts and nobles are gone forever. Anyone can utilize the dragon, and he can call his chop what pleases.
Because the signature seal is a necessity of all but the most primitive living, most are merely practical and not highly ornamented. They may be made for as little as a dollar or two. Materials may be as prosaic as wood or even rubber.
Highly Prized
But for makers and collectors, the chop remains a production of art rather than utility. It is as highly prized as ever, and the creative process continues in the work of artists who find the same fascination in chops that Europeans once did in miniatures.
As long as China continues to sign its name with chops, this is not likely to change. Pride in a beautifully carved chop is no less than that of the Westerner in a highly distinctive—if sometimes illegible -signature.