<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/0zCVd.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/0zCVd.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>The characters are 御書㞢(之)寶, which means <em>seal of imperial writing/literature</em>. The characters are heavily stylised in a blockish/squarish aesthetic (<strong>方篆</strong>) seen on many imperial seals.</p>

<ul>
<li>The explanation of the shape of「㞢」(之) is given <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/30476/meaning-of-seal-and-engraved-characters-on-teapot/30488#30488">here</a>.</li>
<li>「寶」is easy enough to recognise for those familiar with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script" rel="noreferrer">regular script</a>. The shape of the component「宀」is explained <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/29865/help-please-me-find-out-what-this-means/29875#29875">here</a>.</li>
</ul>

<hr>

<h2>御</h2>

<blockquote>
  <p>「御」was originally written as</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/qszCM.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/qszCM.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>depicting a kneeling person「卩」using a pestle「午」, indicating the meaning <em>to use/operate > to govern > imperial</em>. Later,「彳」was added to the left and「止」was added to the bottom of「午」, leading on to the modern form「御」.</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/tkCA5.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/tkCA5.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>These motion-related additions may have been semantically influenced by two other words also written as「御」at one stage but now written as「迓」(<strong>yà</strong>, <em>to welcome</em>; semantic「辶」which is a stylised combination of「彳」and「止」) and 「馭」(also <strong>yù</strong>, <em>to drive a carriage</em>).</p>
  
  <p>In the sample,</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><strong>「」has been modified into the shape of「走」</strong></li>
  <li><p><strong>「彳」has also been heavily modified from a style that looked like the left component of</strong></p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/RTI3S.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/RTI3S.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>「御」is thus composed from</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>「午」</li>
  <li>「卩」</li>
  <li>「彳」</li>
  <li>「止」</li>
  </ul>
  
  <hr>
  
  <h2>午</h2>
  
  <p>「午」originally depicted a pestle:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/LR5tH.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/LR5tH.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>The word representing this meaning is now written as「杵」. The top later became「入」:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/z5Mqm.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/z5Mqm.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p><strong>This leads on to the seal form</strong></p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/zvmr3.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/zvmr3.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p><strong>Note the similarity of the top part to「土」. Straightening the stroke out, as required with the 方篆 style, leads onto the form seen in the sample.</strong></p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <h2>卩</h2>
  
  <p>「卩」originally depicted a kneeling person, <strong>which directly leads on to the form seen in the sample:</strong></p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/2gQJl.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/2gQJl.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <h2>彳</h2>
  
  <p>「彳」is reduced from「行」, which is a picture of an intersection:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/PEQ6I.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/PEQ6I.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>「彳」is subject to wild stylising, and the form in the sample is no different.</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Al1pT.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Al1pT.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <h2>止</h2>
  
  <p>「止」was originally a simplified depiction of a foot:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/xuzgy.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/xuzgy.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>The word representing this meaning is now written「趾」. <strong>The change to seal script looks like</strong></p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/kpKXO.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/kpKXO.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
</blockquote>

<h2>書</h2>

<blockquote>
  <p>「書」is comprised of</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>「聿」, a semantic component;</p></li>
  <li><p>「者」, a phonetic component. In the modern form, this has been reduced to「曰」, but seal scripts and earlier still retain「者」, as with the sample posted in the question. The appearance of「者」in seals is briefly alluded to <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/28986/what-are-these-characters-on-old-brass-stamps/30050#30050">here</a>.</p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Note that the character is not「畫」.「畫」(originally <em>to draw boundaries between fields > draw</em>) definitely needs to contain「田」(<em>fields</em>) as a component, unless the character sample egregiously demonstrates corruption.</p>
  
  <hr>
  
  <p>「聿」originally depicted a hand「⺕」(variant of「又」) holding a brush:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/1t2oT.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/1t2oT.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p><strong>Merging the two together leads on to seal forms which look like</strong> </p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/scGhA.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/scGhA.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-05T08:29:35.503Z
very good (^ o ^)  though it's in doubt any "foreigners" can understand it :) maybe even, average chinese users.
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-05T06:42:59.647Z
2018-08-05T06:42:59.647Z
dROOOze
<p>it's 御書之寶</p>

<p>read from top right:</p>

<p>御 (u+5fa1)</p>

<p><a href="http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E5%BE%A1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=御</a></p>

<p>bottom right:</p>

<p>書 (u+66f8)</p>

<p><a href="http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E6%9B%B8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=書</a></p>

<p>there's very slight chance that, this one might be</p>

<p>畫 (u+756b)</p>

<p><a href="http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E7%95%AB" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=畫</a></p>

<p>top left:</p>

<p>之 (u+4e4b)</p>

<p><a href="http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E4%B9%8B" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=之</a></p>

<p>bottom left:</p>

<p>寶 (u+5bf6)</p>

<p><a href="http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E5%AF%B6" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=寶</a></p>

<p>together it means:</p>

<p>the treasure (寶) of (之) his majestic (御) writing (書)</p>

<p>edited.</p>

<p>i found this one in internet, the original seal of 御書之寶:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/jrNFY.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/jrNFY.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>then, the webpage of this "inspired" souvenir:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.npmshops.com/main/modules/MySpace/PrdInfo.php?sn=npmshops&amp;pc=1510000119274" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.npmshops.com/main/modules/MySpace/PrdInfo.php?sn=npmshops&amp;pc=1510000119274</a></p>

<p>this version has rounded 90° corner, strictly horizontal &amp; vertical lines; and simplified ornament. well, i prefer the ancient copper one :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-07T07:30:07.187Z
2018-07-07T11:17:11.990Z
2018-07-07T11:17:11.990Z
水巷孑蠻
<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/7qJdq.jpg" alt="宋高宗seal"> It is a bookmark sold by the Palace Museum in Taipei, from a seal on a piece titled 宋高宗書七言律詩.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-07T07:21:51.157Z
Seem like 御書( Imperial Writings) 璽寶( treasured Seal); or 御書墨寶 (Emperor 's personally written calligraphy)
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-07T07:32:16.693Z
@drooze, you "should / would" provide an answer in details, with graphics　
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-07T07:32:52.290Z
@水巷孑蠻 lol maybe...it takes a bit of effort to write those answers.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-07T07:40:42.753Z
yes, may 10-100 times, compare to recognise at first glance.
水巷孑蠻
<seal>
What does this seal of 宋高宗 say?
# What does this seal of 宋高宗 say?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-07)

![宋高宗seal](https://i.sstatic.net/7qJdq.jpg) It is a bookmark sold by the Palace Museum in Taipei, from a seal on a piece titled 宋高宗書七言律詩.

**Tags:** seal

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Seem like 御書( Imperial Writings) 璽寶( treasured Seal); or 御書墨寶 (Emperor 's personally written calligraphy)  
> **username_2**: @drooze, you "should / would" provide an answer in details, with graphics　  
> **username_3**: @username_2 lol maybe...it takes a bit of effort to write those answers.  
> **username_2**: yes, may 10-100 times, compare to recognise at first glance.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-08-05. Score: 7

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/0zCVd.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/0zCVd.png)

The characters are 御書㞢(之)寶, which means *seal of imperial writing/literature*. The characters are heavily stylised in a blockish/squarish aesthetic (**方篆**) seen on many imperial seals.

* The explanation of the shape of「㞢」(之) is given [here](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/30476/meaning-of-seal-and-engraved-characters-on-teapot/30488#30488).
* 「寶」is easy enough to recognise for those familiar with [regular script](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script). The shape of the component「宀」is explained [here](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/29865/help-please-me-find-out-what-this-means/29875#29875).

---

## 御

> 「御」was originally written as
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/qszCM.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/qszCM.png)
>
> depicting a kneeling person「卩」using a pestle「午」, indicating the meaning *to use/operate > to govern > imperial*. Later,「彳」was added to the left and「止」was added to the bottom of「午」, leading on to the modern form「御」.
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/tkCA5.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/tkCA5.png)
>
> These motion-related additions may have been semantically influenced by two other words also written as「御」at one stage but now written as「迓」(**yà**, *to welcome*; semantic「辶」which is a stylised combination of「彳」and「止」) and 「馭」(also **yù**, *to drive a carriage*).
>
> In the sample,
>
> * **「」has been modified into the shape of「走」**
> * **「彳」has also been heavily modified from a style that looked like the left component of**
>
>   [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/RTI3S.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/RTI3S.png)
>
> 「御」is thus composed from
>
> * 「午」
> * 「卩」
> * 「彳」
> * 「止」
>
> ---
>
> ## 午
>
> 「午」originally depicted a pestle:
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/LR5tH.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/LR5tH.png)
>
> The word representing this meaning is now written as「杵」. The top later became「入」:
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/z5Mqm.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/z5Mqm.png)
>
> **This leads on to the seal form**
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/zvmr3.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/zvmr3.png)
>
> **Note the similarity of the top part to「土」. Straightening the stroke out, as required with the 方篆 style, leads onto the form seen in the sample.**
>
> ---
>
> ## 卩
>
> 「卩」originally depicted a kneeling person, **which directly leads on to the form seen in the sample:**
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/2gQJl.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/2gQJl.png)
>
> ---
>
> ## 彳
>
> 「彳」is reduced from「行」, which is a picture of an intersection:
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/PEQ6I.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/PEQ6I.png)
>
> 「彳」is subject to wild stylising, and the form in the sample is no different.
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/Al1pT.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/Al1pT.jpg)
>
> ---
>
> ## 止
>
> 「止」was originally a simplified depiction of a foot:
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/xuzgy.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/xuzgy.png)
>
> The word representing this meaning is now written「趾」. **The change to seal script looks like**
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/kpKXO.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/kpKXO.png)

## 書

> 「書」is comprised of
>
> * 「聿」, a semantic component;
> * 「者」, a phonetic component. In the modern form, this has been reduced to「曰」, but seal scripts and earlier still retain「者」, as with the sample posted in the question. The appearance of「者」in seals is briefly alluded to [here](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/28986/what-are-these-characters-on-old-brass-stamps/30050#30050).
>
> Note that the character is not「畫」.「畫」(originally *to draw boundaries between fields > draw*) definitely needs to contain「田」(*fields*) as a component, unless the character sample egregiously demonstrates corruption.
>
> ---
>
> 「聿」originally depicted a hand「⺕」(variant of「又」) holding a brush:
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/1t2oT.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/1t2oT.png)
>
> **Merging the two together leads on to seal forms which look like**
>
> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/scGhA.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/scGhA.png)

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: very good (^ o ^)  though it's in doubt any "foreigners" can understand it :) maybe even, average chinese users.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-07-07. Score: 3

it's 御書之寶

read from top right:

御 (u+5fa1)

[http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=御](http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E5%BE%A1)

bottom right:

書 (u+66f8)

[http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=書](http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E6%9B%B8)

there's very slight chance that, this one might be

畫 (u+756b)

[http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=畫](http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E7%95%AB)

top left:

之 (u+4e4b)

[http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=之](http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E4%B9%8B)

bottom left:

寶 (u+5bf6)

[http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=寶](http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E5%AF%B6)

together it means:

the treasure (寶) of (之) his majestic (御) writing (書)

edited.

i found this one in internet, the original seal of 御書之寶:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/jrNFY.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/jrNFY.jpg)

then, the webpage of this "inspired" souvenir:

<http://www.npmshops.com/main/modules/MySpace/PrdInfo.php?sn=npmshops&pc=1510000119274>

this version has rounded 90° corner, strictly horizontal & vertical lines; and simplified ornament. well, i prefer the ancient copper one :)


---

