Why is there a silver medal in Preface to Lanting Collection?

The person who created this calligraphy and painting, in order to show that he wrote it himself, stamped his own seal, and at the same time dotted one or two reds between black and black, which is also a composition and looks more beautiful. As for later people who continued to print, one was out of love and worship for the word, and the other was to become famous. Some people even wrote an inscription to show their understanding of this calligraphy and painting. They couldn't stop writing and added paper to mount it. It also reflects the great admiration of literati for good calligraphy and painting.

So there are two kinds of seals on ancient calligraphy and painting.

1: Author's seal: generally, there is a preface (mostly conformal in shape) and an inscription (generally square). This is an important basis for strengthening the authenticity of the work. The content of the first chapter is more casual, such as the author number and research name. The signature chapter is generally the author's name, usually "sealed XX" and "sealed XXX". Yin and both need to use it. In some paintings, the author signs his name (2 or 3 words) at the place where the pen is removed, and uses a chapter (the seal is one word) to represent his surname.

2. Collection and Appreciation: This work represents the experience spread in various periods. If it has been collected by many famous painters and collectors in history, the authenticity of this work can be basically affirmed, but it is not absolute, because when mounting Chinese painting, you can mount the appreciation seal of celebrities at the back, so be careful. So you can't just rely on the seal to identify it. However, the works collected by the royal families in past dynasties generally have special seals that emperors appreciate, and the positions of these seals also have standardized requirements.