Babao

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...

paste () is a traditional handicraft made in

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (), alternately romanized as Changchow, is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and surrounding the prefect ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

, China. It dates to the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

and is honoured as one of Zhangzhou's "Three Precious Treasures". In 1983, its recipe was guarded as "top secret" by the Chinese Ministry of Light Industry. Babao seal paste was added to the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2008 and the

China Time-honored Brand China Time-honored Brand ( Chinese: ''Zhonghua lao zihao'' 中华老字号 or simply ''lao zihao'' 老字号) is a title granted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China to Chinese enterprises that existed before 1956, sell ...

list by the

Chinese Ministry of Commerce The Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (MOFCOM) is a cabinet-level executive agency of the State Council of China. It is responsible for formulating policy on foreign trade, export and import regulations, foreign direct ...

in 2011.

Characteristics

Babao seal paste is made from eight precious materials:

musk Musk ( Persian: مشک, ''Mushk'') is a class of aromatic substances commonly used as base notes in perfumery. They include glandular secretions from animals such as the musk deer, numerous plants emitting similar fragrances, and artificial sub ...

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies that are split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally ...

bezoar A bezoar is a mass often found trapped in the gastrointestinal system, though it can occur in other locations. A pseudobezoar is an indigestible object introduced intentionally into the digestive system. There are several varieties of bezoar, s ...

agate Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Anci ...

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, borneolum and

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In ...

. These ingredients are ground into a powder, with additional materials, before processing by a secret technique. The finished product is available in six grades. Babao seal paste is characterized by its bright color and good aroma. It is also fire and water-resistant. Three main traditional studios make seal paste in Zhangzhou: Xiling Seal Art Society in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province; Rongbaozhai in Beijing; and Babao Workshop in Zhangzhou,

Province. They rank it top among other seal paste brands in China.

History

Babao seal paste has its origins in 1673 during the

. Zhangzhou Yuanfeng Drugstore owner Wei Chang’an (Chinese: 魏长安) combined the eight ingredients of the paste to make an ointment he called Babao. Due to its high cost, the ointment was not widely used at that time. After using the ointment on his art and discovering its impressive color, Changan repurposed the mixture as Babao seal paste. In 1746, local government official named Si Da gave Babao seal paste a name called Lihua Workshop. The paste was sent to the royal palace as a tribute, and the Qianlong Emperor often bestowed it on his ministers. Royal favor helped popularize Babao seal paste in Chinese culture. Babao seal paste won a special award at the 1910 Nanyang Commodity Exposition and won the first prize at the 1915

Panama–Pacific International Exposition The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California, United States, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely s ...

. During the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, the paste was sent to US President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

as a national present.

External links

Zhangzhou Babao Seal Paste Workshop Official Website (漳州八宝印泥厂)
(Chinese language)
Zhangzhou Babao Seal Paste Traditional Making Process (漳州八宝印泥传统制作工艺)
(Chinese language)

References

{{Seal (East Asia) Chinese calligraphy Zhangzhou