can
be dated back to the time of the Chow-Han 
Dynasty.Seal carvers
of the modern times cannot often avoid making reference to the classical
works of those renowned calligraphers in the Chow-Han or
Ching 
Dynasty.However, from the time after Han
to Ching (
i.e. the Tong 
,
Sung 
, Yuen 
Dynasty
) the use of seal for personal identification was less common. The
art of seal carving then came to a dormant period in history.Till Ching
Dynasty,
an atmosphere of renaissance gradually emerged along with the trend of archaeology development. Many educated people followed the old style and put seal-prints on their finished works of painting, writing and poetry.
As the art of seal carving became popular, the seal-carvers grouped themselves into different schools according to the style of their work. Among those, there were three most influential to the modern work, namely Chiu Chee Him
, Ng
Cheong Yen 
and
Chai Pak Shek 
.
All of them were also outstanding painters, calligraphers and poem-writers.Seal-chops are made of jade, ivory, or soft precious stones. The body of the chop can be of different sizes and shapes. The 'head' may be sculpted into shape of animal like fish, goat, lion, dragon, or any other symbolic image. Besides for use on traditional paintings and calligraphy, name seals are nowadays also used as a personal identification in money transactions and other bussiness matters.
