revealing my *new* Chinese name seals
for YIN YANG LOVE SONG
It’s time to reveal my Chinese name seals for Yin Yang Love Song! (Yes, plural 👀) Because you’re subscribed to my newsletter, you get to see them first.
As you may know, I have a new Chinese seal made for every book I write. I’ve done this from the very start, and it’s a tradition I’ve come to love very much. I also love the collaboration process with the artist, Karen Tseng, who is incredible and so talented.
What is seal carving?
For context, seal carving is a traditional art form that originated in China. Seals are used on documents, banking paperwork, and artwork, but they're also art in their own right. These seals contain my Chinese name, so when I stamp your book, it's another version of my official signature. ❤️
Where is your name in the seal?
In the design itself! In the Lunar Love seal, my name is in the moon. In Red String Theory’s, it’s in the lantern. You’ll see where my name is in Yin Yang Love Song’s in a second.
Karen shared, “While determining what kind of script to use for your name 樂仁, I am glad to choose from the many beautiful examples of ancient seal script. Seal script developed over 2000 years ago, modifying Chinese characters to look more square or rectangular so that they can fit nicely onto the surface of a bronze vessel, such as a ritual wine vase or a bronze bell. More importantly, characters were modified in many different ways so they can fit neatly and beautifully into square, rectangular, or circular seals, hence the name “seal script.” I would go to my online seal script dictionary, choose a number of different forms of writing your name, and rewrite them many times, modifying the edges and angles to fit into the moon or the lantern for our purpose. I am grateful to how creative our ancient ancestors are in making our written language so beautiful!”
What are the seals carved on?
Stones. Per Karen, “The stones are a kind of hard soapstone, the places that produce the best colorful stones with the right consistency for carving by hand are Fujian Province, Inner Mongolia, and the country of Laos. Stones are rated for their hardness on a 10 point scale. The stones that we use are soft enough to sink a steel knife into by hand, and yet hard enough so the lines can hold their shapes and won’t chip off easily, have a hardness degree of 2.5-3. Jade has a hardness of 6, and it’s very difficult to carve by hand. Diamond has a hardness of 10.”
As my writing evolves, these seals follow along on that journey. They also echo the themes that are in each book, but are always classic and stand out on their own.
What are some challenges with seal carving?
Here’s what Karen said: “You give me a challenge every time for giving me many items to fit into one small area. [Note: 😆 I really, really do. I’m sorry and thank you, Karen.] The challenge of every seal design is to fit everything you want to say in a most succinct way, cutting away all the BS, and distilling it down to the essence. Every seal face is a picture. The area is so small, which means you have to strive to make every line and space meaningful. The negative space is just as important as the positive. Whether it consists of just words or words and pictures, every element has to speak to one another to make a good design.”
This is Lunar Love’s seal:
More on the inspiration:
“In the first seal, you wanted a horse, a moon, and your Chinese name,” Karen shared with me. “The story book Goodnight Moon, where the part “goodnight cow jumping over the moon” came into mind. I also took inspiration from the famous Han Dynasty sculpture Galloping Horse Treading On a Flying Swallow. This 2000 year old sculpture brilliantly captured a horse that ran so fast it flew into the air, a flying swallow was startled by the horse gently tapping its hoof on the bird’s back!”
The sun or flower patterns on the horse’s body are inspired by Chinese “farmer’s paintings.” Karen loves farmer’s paintings for their “originality and imagination, often putting auspicious symbols into their slightly abstracted images.”
And this is Red String Theory’s seal:
For this seal, I asked for five elements: a lantern, moon, butterflies, red string, and my name. Karen mentioned, “That was a huge challenge! My sudden thought of putting the lantern on top of the moon was a game changer. It made everything else much easier, and the moon background as well as the string coming in and out in the positive and negative spaces, tied everything together.”
“It was a challenge to maintain the same width of the string,” she added. “With carving, it’s so easy to make the white line thicker (because the more you carve, the wider the line gets), and the red line thinner. So, the challenge is to maintain the thickness throughout the positive and negative space so it looks like it’s the same line.”
Karen nailed it.
And now…THIS is Yin Yang Love Song’s seal…
YES! It's a different shape! There’s a chrysanthemum (with a little pre-bloomed bud 🥹). The roots of the flower are my name! There are paragraphs dedicated to roots in Yin Yang Love Song because of how incredibly healing (and metaphorical) they can be. For instance, Chinese peony roots contain powerful healing properties. A line from the book: “What they may not know, though, is that it’s belowground where the magic happens for this flowering plant.”
Sometimes we’re so focused on the flower itself with its beautiful colors and shapes that we don’t think about what’s below the flower.
End: Ode to Roots.
This stamp has the essence of yin yang with the ground and sky, which I find so beautiful. I’m in love. I can’t wait to stamp your books with this one! (Huge thanks to Karen for handling all of my challenging requests with optimism. Never once has she said no to a wild ask, and she delivers every single time.)
And!!
If you order any of my books from Parnassus, it will be stamped with its ORIGINAL seal! All other book signings outside of Parnassus will have Yin Yang Love Song’s seal stamped in it. You can still add personalization notes in the order notes field at checkout, and if you want doodles, add this note, too.
But that’s not it!
If you preorder Yin Yang Love Song through Parnassus (by January 21), you get an exclusive hand-painted (by me!) watercolor flower. Because this is art, I’ll be signing and stamping with a NEW baby seal, which looks like…
It plays on yin yang and a little bit of Red String Theory with the loopy letters. 😉 And it’s got a nod to modernity. You might not be able to tell by the photo, but this seal is SUCH a baby!! It’s practically the height and width of my pinky.
‼️ Preorder by January 21 to get: your books signed, stamped, and personalized, a watercolor flower hand-painted by me, and a “Remain Clam” sticker! My new seals will be stamped on the art and in the book. Add personalization notes in the order notes field at checkout, and if you want doodles, add this note, too. This time, I will only be doodling upon request.
It means so much to me when you preorder, so I’m excited to do this extra special thing for you. Every single flower watercolor is slightly different. The colors, the styles, the vibes. Here’s a peek at what they look like…
And they’ll all be signed and stamped with that little baby seal that is truly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
Preorder by January 26 to get: a signed and stamped bookplate and a “Remain Clam” sticker.
✔️ Fill out the proof of preorder submission form that gets sent to my publisher
✔️ Open to readers in the U.S. and Canada
Thank you so, so much for your support and excitement! I can’t wait for you to meet Chryssy and Vin in less than two weeks. (The aunties are excitedly preparing the Wildflower Inn for your arrival). 💚
From me to you, in the present,
Lauren
P.S. You can still add Yin Yang Love Song on Goodreads and request it from your local library!
About me: I’m Lauren Kung Jessen, author of Lunar Love, Red String Theory, and Yin Yang Love Song. Connect with me on Instagram and Threads for more on books and food.
I love learning the stories behind your name seals!
gorgeous stamp!!!