Academic Seminars on Seals Held in Xuzhou during Han dynasty

      From July 28 to 30, 2019, under the guidance of Xuzhou Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau, the "International Academic Seminar on Seals of Han dynasty" co-sponsored by Xuzhou museum (Xuzhou institute of cultural relics and archaeology) and the school of history, culture and tourism of Jiangsu Normal University was held in Xuzhou.

      Xuzhou, known as Pengcheng and one of China's nine states since ancient times, has a history of more than 5,000 years of civilization and nearly 2,600 years of city building history, and is also the hometown of Liubang, the first emperor of Han dynasty. Xuzhou was an important fief of the state of Chu in West Han dynasty and the state of Pengcheng in East Han dynasty. The 400 years of the two Han dynasties left a very rich legacy of Han culture in Xuzhou. In recent years, Xuzhou Han dynasty tomb archaeology work has achieved fruitful results. According to rough statistics, nearly 3,000 small and medium-sized tombs of Han dynasty of the nobles and civilians have been excavated, among which 21 tombs belong to princes of the two Han dynasties. A large number of seals have been unearthed in these tombs, especially in the tombs of high grade royal tombs.

      Seals are important physical materials for studying the ancient Chinese official system, geographical evolution, seal system and character evolution. There are a variety of seals and mud seals unearthed in Xuzhou. The tomb of dukes of West Han dynasty, represented by the Shizishan tomb of the king of Chu, unearthed more than 200 seals of various materials, and 80 mud seals. Tushan Han tomb have been found more than 4500 seals since 1982. The abundant unearthed materials provide important support for the research on seals and the study of the official system, regional geography, seal system and other related issues of West Han dynasty, and also provide extremely substantial reference materials for some related academic researches. The conference conducted academic exchanges and discussions on the new archaeological discoveries of seals, ancient official system, ancient Chinese characters and ancient political and regional geography. It aims to break through the traditional pattern of seal research, further expand the horizon of relevant research, learn and absorb the multi-disciplinary and comprehensive research ideas and methods, and inject new vitality into the related research of seal  of Han dynasty.

      The opening ceremony of the seminar was presided over by Li Xiaojun, curator of Xuzhou museum (Xuzhou institute of cultural relics and archaeology). Han Ruhai, deputy director of Xuzhou Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau, Zhang Wende, dean of the school of history, culture and tourism of Jiangsu Normal University, Lin Liugen, director of Jiangsu institute of archaeology and other leaders attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. The participants came from more than 10 universities, including Chuo University, Tainan National University of the Arts, Tsinghua University, Nankai University, Fudan University, Jilin University, Sichuan University, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an Polytechnic University, Nanjing University, Nanjing Normal University and Jiangsu Normal University. Nearly 60 experts and scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences archaeological research institute, Palace Museum, the Chinese academy of cultural heritage, the Shanghai museum, Shaanxi archaeological institute museum, museum of Qin Shihuang mausoleum, Jingzhou museum, Luoyang institute of cultural relics and archaeology, Xuzhou terracotta warriors museum, Xuzhou museum (Xuzhou institute of cultural relics and archaeology) and other archaeological institutions attended the seminar.