Bronze turtle button “Jianwei General Seal”

[Tonggui Button “Jianwei General Seal”]

Tonggui Button “Jianwei General Seal”, Eastern Jin Dynasty, printed 2.2 × 2.3 cm, 2.4 cm high
It is printed with copper cast, tortoise button, Chinese seal character, white text, and read from the top right. The tortoise button in this print is simple in shape, with a long head and a forward oblique extension. The two sides of the tortoise body are flush, and there are simple lines carved on the tortoise back. The upper part of the character “Zhang” is omitted as a vertical pen, and the engraving of the seal is relatively sloppy. On the whole, this seal should be the official seal of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Sixteen Kingdoms or the early Southern Dynasty
General Jianwei, a military officer, was first seen in the Western Han Dynasty. In the second year of Yongguang (42 BC), Han Cijun served as General Jianwei, and Deng Yu of the Eastern Han Dynasty also served as General Jianwei. During the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties, various regimes set up this official. For example, Du Shu’s biography attached to the Annals of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu Sixteenth, said: “Return to the governor of Youzhou, add Jianwei’s general, keep the envoy’s section, and protect Wuwan’s captain.” In the Annals of the Three Kingdoms, Wu Shu Eleventh, “The power is broken and the capital is Wuchang, and worship Fan Jianwei’s general.” In the Jin Dynasty, Diao Mo, Wang Rong, Zhou Chu, and Si Tuxun were all appointed to this position. General Jianwei of the Wei, Jin, and Song Dynasties had actual military power, and most of them were provincial governors or local governors.

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