Seal of Worshipping Heaven and Revering Ancestors

This seal is fashioned from stone quarried from the Shoushan area of Fujian Province. The knob is carved as a turtle-like dragon (called a tuo), while the bottom inscription features Chinese characters in the seal script. It was carved in the first year of the Yongzheng reign. The Yongzheng Emperor once said that from the earliest of times it has behooved emperors to maintain the worship of heaven and esteem for ancestors as their prime duty in the governance of their domain. This duty was important for the Yongzheng Emperor from the beginning and to the end of his reign, and this seal reflected his emphasis of the principle. He often impressed this seal on his own calligraphic works.