Yindian 印典

Yindian 印典 "The canon of seals" is a book on seal carving and seal inscriptions compiled during the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Zhu Xiangxian 朱象賢 (fl. 1722), courtesy name Xianxing 行先, style Qingxi 清溪, who hailed from Wuxian 吳縣 (modern Suzhou 蘇州, Jiangsu) and was a descendant of the Song-period 宋 (960-1279) writer Zhu Changwen 朱長文 (1039-1098), author of the art book Mochibian 墨池編.

The book with a length of 8 juan is divided into 12 chapters describing the origin of seal (studies), methodological issues, seals as presents, transmission of seals and their inscriptions, as well as presenting quotations from a wide range of different writings. The afterword (ba 跋), dated 1722, names as Zhu's sources the books Mei'an zaji 梅庵雜記, Wolu biji 蝸廬筆記, Youyi zashu 游藝雜述 and Kaogu jilüe 考古紀略, but the text of none of these for books shows similar statements. The text of the Yindian itself is in many places redundant, and the chapter arrangement also not very clear, and – above all – scholarly not very reliable. Zhu seems to have assembled all statements about seals he could find in ancient literature without using his sources to achieve useful insight into the history of seal carving. The last fascicle, for instance, is a collection of various types of literature (poems, inscriptions, rhapsodies, praises, admonitions, memorials to the throne, etc.) on seals. The book is, nonetheless, of some help to gain an overview of quotations.

The first print of the Yindian was published as an appendix to Zhu Changwen's Mochibian. Is is also included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and Dun'an yinxue congshu 遁庵印學叢書. The earliest modern edition, published by Wu Yin 吳隱, dates from 1918.