Chop Exhibit at the Shanghai Museum 上海博物馆

Can You See the Writing on the Chop?

Can You See the Writing on the Chop?

The Shanghai Museum has several levels of exhibits of relics from centuries past. I could probably say that most of these relics are pretty normal to me. Everyone one knows that porcelain came from China, they naturally also have bronze working even from before. However, the next exhibit was a bit more unique. It was an exhibit on chops, the kind to make a document official. The Chinese are ardent users of chops especially high officials as they try to impress the other with the beauty of their official chops.

Various Chops on Exhibit at the Shanghai Museum 上海博物馆

Various Chops on Exhibit at the Shanghai Museum 上海博物馆

Most of the chops on display here are made of metal, this tends to be the case in the earlier centuries, however it becomes more and more elaborate as the centuries go by. There was even a move to the use of precious stones. Some of these chops would be elaborately carved with mythical creatures following the prevailing culture at that time. One in particular impressed me was how almost microscopic Chinese characters were carved onto the body of the chop. It was really amazing, I don’t even know if the user can even read the characters. About the image the chop produces, it too tends to change over the years. One can even trace the evolution of Chinese characters just by looking at them.

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