Research on the Official System of Qing Dynasty

The official seal is the sign of Imperial authority. The official seal system was established by the First Emperor of Qin dynasty. The official seals was used as an important tool in the document administration by the bureaucrates, and functioned as a part of imperial policy or dispotism. The seal was made with negative (陰刻) Its scale was 2. 3〜3. 0cm. In the period of Sui-Tang dynasties, the seal was made with positive (陽刻) and grew big. Now, the negative is called a white pattern, and the positive, a red pattern. The official seal system of Qing dynasty accumulated the conventional characteristics of the successive dynasties. In every seal of Qing dynasty there were the word letters of races together with Manchurian. They were Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, and Turkish. Qing dynasty conferred the seal on the tributary countries. It may be said that the seal is one of symbols of Chinese world order. The seal system reflected the rule idea of Qing dynasty well. In the early 20 century, instead of word letters of races, only the seals of Chinese letter were made and used. Finally the main word letter of Imperial seal replaced Manchurian with Chinese. The collapse of the seal system means the end of Qing dynasty. Modern Japan introduced the seal system. We understand the characteristics of Japanese seal and Qing-Chinese seal by comparing the seals stamped on the treaty documents which were tied up between Japan and Qing-China.