E87 Jade Tiger Military Matching Seal

E87 Jade Tiger Military Matching Seal (Right parts of each of the two tiger shaped matching seals)

 In the early spring and Autumn period, there were more than 130 countries divided into three or four hundred wars. Sun Tzu's art of War: the soldier, the great event of the country, the place of death and life, the way of survival and death, can not be ignored!            

According to Zuo Zhuan, Cao GUI's argument is that if you fight with your husband, you will have courage. If you work hard, you will lose strength. If you work hard, you will lose strength. If you work hard, you will defeat us! According to Zuo Chuanyi's book, Cao GUI discusses tactics: to fight, all depends on courage. To fight with drums once, with enough strength, and then with drums, the strength begins to weaken. To fight with drums three times, the strength is exhausted. When the other side is exhausted and we are full of strength, we can defeat the other side! Therefore, we need to be able to use tiger matching seal to enhance our momentum and morale and win in military activities!  Half of the matching seal is in the hands of the monarch and the other half are held by the generals outside. When the monarch wants to dispatch his troops, he will send half of the matching seal in the hands of the emissary to deliver orders. When they are match and consistent, the generals can use their troops.  The matching seals are mostly made of copper and in the shape of a tiger. There are few jade matching seals.

The jade tiger matching seal uses a jade tiger, which is split into two pieces. One side is usually embossed with a protruding "同" character (forming a "tenon", which is used as a tool for judging and combining), and the other side is engraved with a concave "同" character. When the two parts are combined, they become a complete tiger, that is, the command is true. The two jade tiger matching seals on the right are the same brown jade, and they are almost the same size.           

 These two crouching Tigers: looking back, opening their mouths, matching their upper and lower jaws and tusks, they are vigorous, with cloud patterns on their ears, a cloud pattern on the back of their gills, and a scroll scroll pattern on their eyes and back brains. The tiger's body is plain. It's small in shape and simple and rough in carving. It's probably because of the frequent wars and the urgent need for practicality. It's estimated that it belongs to a small country rather than a powerful country with five hegemonic powers in the spring and Autumn period. Therefore, the other left side of the two jade matching seals has not been returned, or has been annexed by other countries.

In the later Qin and Han Dynasties, the jade and tiger matching seals were not "regular", so they were still small in number, but they were large and complicated in craftsmanship. There are two pieces of tiger matching seals, the right one is usually left in the court, and the left one is held by the generals outside. In ancient times, the right one is respected. In the Qin Dynasty, there are two tiger matching seals : i.e. "Xinqi" and "Yangling" . In the face of the inscription of "Xinqi", there is the rule of "right in the king, left in "Xinqi"「新郪」; in the matching seal of  “Yangling”「陽陵」, there are also the words of "right in the emperor, left in “Yangling”. Although the two matching seals belong to the bronze tiger matching seals, we can know the system of the tiger matching seals. The bronze tiger matching seals is often used, while the jade tiger matching seals is a special case, so it is rare.           

  It can be seen from the above that these two pieces of jade tiger matching seals on the right are probably the earliest ones in the spring and Autumn period. They are probably the two pieces of tiger matching seals on the right of a small monarch in the spring and Autumn period. It's a miracle that we can appear at the same time! It is hard to find! Its historical significance and value cannot be estimated!

（1） Tenon "同": length: 6.36cm, height: 3.11cm            

（2） Concave "同" character: length: 5.98cm, height: 3.11cm            

This is the same jade tiger matching seal on the right. One is the same character with tenon, the other is the same character with concave carving. This meaning is easy to distinguish.