Terry's Chop

At left is the chop, or seal, that Terry had made in a shop we passed by while we were in Shanghai last weekend.  At the shop he chose an auspicious double-headed dragon stone, negotiated what he thought was a fair price, gave them his business card with his logo, and returned a half-hour later to pick up his finished chop.  At the time, he thought a chop might be useful someday.  He didn't know that a mere four days later, he was asked for his chop when he signed a contract.  In China you're expected to not only sign your name but also put your chop on many contracts in order to make them legally binding.  Red ink is almost always used.

     The tradition of stone chops goes back thousands of years in China.  It originated possibly 8,000 years ago when people used a seal to mark their possessions to prevent theft--a sort of ancient Operation ID.  Until fairly recently in history, many Chinese businessmen were illiterate and were unable to sign their name to contracts.  So they used a seal with their family name or symbol carved into the flat smooth edge of a stone. The seal was dipped in red ink, symbolizing a signature set in stone and written in blood, about as binding as you can get.  Artists traditionally stamp their work with their chop to guarantee that the work is authentic.  Even in our everyday paperwork, a red seal is found on many of the bills or receipts we get, everything from the phone bill to taxi or plane ticket receipts.