Chiang-yu-tung ("soy-sauce jelly") is a stone mined near Shantung's Mount T'ai, and in Ch'ing-t'ien County in Chekiang. It is also called niu-chiao-tung ("cattle-horn jelly"), and, because most of it comes from Ch'ing-t'ien, "Ch'ing-t'ien soy sauce."
Chiang-yu-tung's special feature is a color and luster that are both gorgeous and delicate. Ancient specimens of chiang-yu-tung, are not as deeply colored as the stones found today. People who fuss about such things call the stones that are red chiang-yu-tung and stones that are grayish brown niu-chiao-tung, but there really isn't any fixed standard for distinguishing the varieties. Because the stone's beauty and elegance come from within and are not merely superficial, it is one of the stones scholars have liked to collect. The better grades of chiang-yu-tung are soft, almost self-lubricating, with color distributed throughout each piece, and thus are a seal carver's delight.
Last month's Sinorama introduced various shapes of seal handles; this month we will introduce various shapes of seal faces.
The earliest seal faces were predominantly square, though some were round. A hybrid type had a square impression, but with characters arranged in a circle. "Half-square" seal faces were mostly for the lower classes. Some seal faces were oval, but these developed late and few are extant. Others were pear-shaped; some of these had handles with the same pear-shaped cross section. Others had projecting knobs, or intentions, or consisted of two faces on one handle. Others were formed by ancient artisans into trefoils, or the form of Shang bronzes or of musical instruments--an astonishing variety.
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