"Hitherto, apart from the calligraphic importance of Ch'in and Han dynasty seals, most seals served a purely practical function. Yuan seals, for example, were carved in spidery characters totally lacking in calligraphic beauty, let along artistic value.
「在這之前，除了秦漢時印章上的文字較重視字體、筆觸外，大多只達到傳意的實用功能，例如元時印文字體纖弱，缺乏書法的氣韻，遑論藝術價值。