The art of Chinese Seal Engraving originated thousands of years ago and was used by Chinese emperors to authenticate important royal documents. Nowadays, it is commonly employed by traditional Chinese artists to identify their works of art. However, it is also used by anyone wanting to mark their name such as teachers who use it as a unique alternative as a personal document signature. In the West it offers a novel way of signing stationary, greeting cards etc.

Our Chinese Seal consists of a decorative sculptured stone featuring the 9 Chinese Dragons (see below), with your Chinese name inscribed using special tools on the surface of the flat bottom, together with your Western name. You can then dip the stone in a dish of special red ink (enclosed in the kit) and stamp your very own Chinese name (translated for you). This seal carving is made from 'Marble Stone' from China. It takes many years of mastery for an expert to be able to artistically carve your Chinese name in a limited surface area and with extreme precision.

In the mythology of various Oriental countries, the dragon is the supreme spiritual power, the most ancient emblem and the most ubiquitous motif in Oriental art. Dragons represent celestial and terrestrial power, wisdom and strength. They reside in water, bring wealth and good luck and, in Chinese belief, rainfall for their precious crops. The dragon in traditional Chinese New Year's Day parades is believed to repel evil spirits that would inevitably spoil the new year. The five-clawed dragon became the Chinese Imperial emblem (the four-clawed being the common dragon).

The sides of this dragon seal are inscribed with other fascinating decorations. The seal is packaged in an attractive Chinese decorated box and inclusive of a dish of special red ink.

Please be aware that the colour patterns of the stone material can vary from seal to seal. And due to the hand-carved nature of this product, the sculpture can also differ slightly from the one featured, making each and every seal carving a truly original item!

More about the Nine Dragon...

In Chinese mythology there are Nine Major types of dragon:

Horned Dragon (lung) most powerful generalized type of Chinese dragon, which can produce rain and is totally deaf.
Winged Dragon
Celestial Dragon (which supports and protects the mansions of the gods).
Spiritual Dragon (generates wind and rain for the benefit of mankind).
Dragon of Hidden Treasures (which keeps guard over concealed wealth).
The Coiling Dragon (which lives in water).
The Yellow Dragon (which once emerged from water and presented the legendary Emperor Fu Shi with the elements of writing).
Homeless Dragon (Ii) that lives in the ocean and another type (chiao) that is scale-covered and usually inhabits marshes but also keeps dens in the mountains.
Dragon King, which actually consists of four separate dragons, each of which rules over one of the four seas, those of the east, south, west, and north.

The Chinese dragon is also made up of nine entities:- the head of camel, the eyes of a demon, the ears of a cow, the horns of a stag, the neck of a snake, it's belly a clam's, it's claws that of an eagle, while the soles of his feet are that of a tiger, and the 117 scales that cover it's body are that of a carp