As early as ancient bronzes from three thousand years ago, we find many that bear inscriptions. Marks engraved on these artifacts could be in the form of a simple symbol or character, but eventually they sometimes became an entire essay or record. Regardless of the type, inscriptions fully revealed the honor in owning a precious object, as well as pride and hope in being able to pass along a piece of history to one's descendants.
       
Collectors and connoisseurs in later periods held the same sentiments and therefore impressed their personal seals on beloved paintings and calligraphic works that they owned or saw. Nowadays, we can comb through history by unraveling the information behind these seals.
       
Engraving bronzes, ceramics, jades, and other such objects is obviously much more difficult than merely impressing seals on painting and calligraphy. Therefore, apart from the imperial reign mark made as part of the artifact at the time of production, collectors seldom added engravings on antiquities in their possession. Starting from the High Ch'ing dynasty, however, craftsmanship techniques and human resources reached a pinnacle. Not only were seals and inscriptions engraved on the surfaces of antiquities in great numbers, sometimes entire passages and poems were articulately carved to clearly record the precious collection of the imperial family. Considering the importance of these clues in tracing history and their inherent aesthetic qualities, why not take a second look at these informative and precious remnants of the past?