Bronze horse button “pro Zhao Hou Yin”

[Bronze Horse Button “Pro Zhao Hou Seal”]

Bronze Horse Button “Pro Zhao Hou Seal”, Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sixteen Kingdoms, printed 2.5 × 2.5 cm, 2.2 cm high
The seal is made of copper, and the horse button. The seal is in Chinese seal script. The white text is read from the top right. This seal is carved. At present, the Ma button as the official seal button can only be seen in the Sixteen Kingdoms Period, while the official seal button in the Sixteen Kingdoms Period is mostly nose button or tile button. The horse with this button is in the shape of bending leg and lying down, and it is well forged
During the Sixteen Kingdoms Period, there were two Zhao regimes successively. In 304 A.D., Liu Yuan, the Hun aristocrat, was called the King of Han in Zuo Guocheng, the emperor in 308, and moved to Pingyang the next year. Liu Cong ascended the throne the next year, and destroyed the Western Jin Dynasty in 316. In 319, Liu Yao, the capital of Chang’an, changed the country name to Zhao, which was called the former Zhao in history. In 319 AD, Jiezu Shile was called King of Zhao. In 329, the former Zhao was destroyed. In the following year, he became the emperor. The capital of Xiangguo was built. Later, he moved to Ye. In history, he was called Hou Zhao. In 351, he was destroyed. Although the “Zhao” in this seal can not be confirmed as the former Zhao or the latter Zhao, it is doubtless that its casting time is from 308 to 351 A.D. This seal should be the official seal issued by the Zhao regime for the purpose of ruling the country and uniting other tribes.

“亲赵侯印”印钤本