This square seal with a rounded top is carved and polished from a piece of chicken-blood stone. The stone is grayish-green with slight yellow and red coloration, and splashes of red are concentrated at the top. With the color as inspiration, the carver created a scene illustrating the story of Su Shih's boat trip to the Red Cliff. Four pines emerge from the steep cliff wall and wrap around the four sides of the seal, stretching out horizontally to the right and left. The needles form circular clusters, and the branches and twigs of two pines are interwoven over the corner of the seal.

        Beneath the red cliff, rocks like scattered clouds are carved in relief. A skiff is carved in relief below the trees and rocks. Su Shih sits in the middle with the monk Fo-yin across from him as the boatmen row. Finely incised ripples and reeds decorate the seal alongside the boat. The moon rises from floating clouds between the cliff and the tips of the tree branches. An excerpt from the "Former Ode on the Red Cliff" is inscribed across the side of the seal:
The moon rises over the Eastern Mountain,
Lingering between the Big Dipper and the Cowherd.
White vapors cover the surface of the river,
As the color of the water blends with the sky.
Like a solitary reed this small boat drifts along,
Sailing over the vast and misty river.

        The signature "K'o-chai" is carved at the end of the excerpt. Round clouds carved in low relief decorate the opposite side of the seal.

      Chicken-blood stone, found in Ch'ang-hua County, Chekiang Province, was admired for its natural splashes of red. If the red was concentrated at one end of the stone, it was especially suitable for illustrating the theme of the Red Cliff. The sobriquet "K'o-chai" was often used in the Ch'ing dynasty and here it refers to Chia Hsuan of the early Ch'ing.