一切經音義 20.46

20.46

璽印 ("imperial seals and tokens"; the former character, fanqie: 斯 + 此. Zheng's Commentary to the Zhouli says: "Xi (璽) means a seal." Ying Shao's Commentary to the Hanshu says: "Xi means a token of trust." Cai Yong's Duduan says: "The Son of Heaven's seal is made of jade. In antiquity, the noble and base shared this term; only from the Qin onwards was it exclusively used by the Son of Heaven." The Shuowen says: "The seal of a ruler; it takes 土 as semantic and 爾 as phonetic." Through transmission it is now written with 玉 as 璽. The latter character, fanqie: 因 + 晉. The Cangjie pian says: "Yin (印) means an official seal." The Hanshu says: "Feudal kings had golden seals." The Shuowen says: "Yin is the token of trust held by those who govern; it takes 爪 and 卩"; 卩 is pronounced 節).