Name Chop

When we were in Insadong, one of the gifts we bought for Addi is her name chop (dojang 도장). In Korea everyone owns a name chop. Koreans use it on all documents alongside their signature.

The history of the name chop or seal was first introduced to Korea in approximately 2nd century BCE. The remaining oldest record of its usage in Korea is that Kings of Buyeo used royal seals (oksae: 옥새, 玉璽) which had the inscription of Seal of the King of Ye (濊王之印, 예왕지인).

Seals were also used by government officials in documents. These types of seals were called gwanin (관인, 官印) and it was supervised by specialist officials.

In traditional arts, like China and Japan, an artist of Chinese calligraphy and paintings would use their seals (generally leisure seals and studio seals) to identify his/her work. These types of seals were called Nakkwan (낙관, 落款). As seal-carving itself was considered a form of art, many artists carved their own seals.

In modern Korea, the use of seals is still common. Most Koreans have personal seals, every government agency and commercial corporation has its own seals to use in public documents. While signing is also accepted, many Koreans think it is more formal to use seals in public documents. In 2008 the Constitutional Court of South-Korea upheld a Supreme court judgement that a signed and handwritten will which lacked a registered seal was invalid.[3]

Korean seals are made of wood, stone, jade, or sometimes ivory for more value. State Seals were generally made of gold or high-quality jade. The seal that we bought for Adelyn is made of soap stone which is a softer stone easy to engrave.

The red ink is in a beautiful ceramic jar and is actually a silk-based ink. The red paste is made from finely pulverized cinnabar, mixed with castor oil and silk strands. The silk strands bind the mixture together to form a very thick substance. It has a very oily appearance and tends to be a bright red in color.

We had recommendations of a shop to go to in Insadong for Adelyn's seal. The shop is owned by two married artists who are both very well-known. They have even created name chops for the Queen of England and various cardinals and princes (which they have pictures of in their shop). We watched them carve and create Adelyn's beautiful name chop. It has her English name and Korean middle name(Daum). I just love it!