View source for Huaya

{{short description|Stylized signature used in parts of Asia}}{{Verification|date=August 2023}}{{Infobox transliteration
| title = Huaya
| pic = Toyotomi Hideyoshi Kaou.svg
| piccap = ''Kaō'' of lord [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]] (1537-1598)
| c = 花押
| p = huāyā
| kanji = 花押
| kana = かおう
| romaji = Kaō
| hangul = 화압
| hanja = 花押
| rr = Hwaap
| mr = Hwaap
| ibox-order = 
| qn = hoa áp
| chuhan = 花押
| vietnamese = 
}}

'''''Huaya''''' ("flower seal"; {{zh|c=花押|p=Huā Yā}}; {{langx|ko|화압|Hwaap}}; {{langx|ja|花押|Kaō}}, [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese:]] {{langr|vi|hoa áp}}, [[chữ Hán]]: {{Vi-nom|花押}}) are stylized [[signature]]s or marks used in East Asian cultures {{clarify span|text=in place of a true signature.|explain=What is supposed to mark a 'true signature' that huaya do not fulfill?|date=March 2025}} Originating from China, the ''huaya'' was historically used by prominent figures such as government officials, monks, artists, and craftsmen. The use of [[Seal (East Asia)|stamp seals]] gradually replaced the ''huaya'', though they are still used occasionally in modern times by important people. 

== Design ==
[[File:Sino Japanese Friendship and Trade Treaty 13 September 1871.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Sino-Japanese Friendship and Trade Treaty]] of 1871, showing the marks of general [[Li Hongzhang]] (left) and lord [[Date Munenari]] (right)]]
Most ''huaya'' are constructed from parts of [[Hanzi|Chinese characters]] and resemble them to a certain degree. A small number of early marks, mostly used by Buddhist monks, are simply abstract pictures related to the person's identity.

Generally, one or more of the characters from the person's name is used in creating a ''huaya''. Designs are often taken from highly calligraphic, distorted, or alternative forms of a character, as well as merging parts of two characters into a single mark (similar to a [[monogram]]). Descendants of the same family or artistic lineage will often have similar-looking marks.

Several styles of ''huaya'' have existed throughout history. Early marks from the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] (618-907) and [[Song dynasty|Song dynasties]] (960–1279) were more abstract and minimalistic compared to later designs. During the [[Ming dynasty]] (1368-1644), marks with a design between two horizontal lines became popular in China, and was adopted later by the [[Tokugawa clan]] in Japan.

==History==
===China===
The oldest surviving record of ''huaya'' is in the ''[[Book of Northern Qi]]'', the official history of the [[Northern Qi]] dynasty (550–577 AD).<ref>{{citation | lang=zh | title=北齐书 | trans-title=Book of Northern Qi | author=李百药 | date=November 2020 |isbn= 978-7-5203-7496-5 | publisher=中国社会科学出版社 }}</ref> ''Huaya'' reached its peak popularity during the [[Northern Song]] dynasty (960-1127).<ref>{{ cite web | lang=zh | title=日本的"花押"到底是什么? | url=https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/146027372 | date=June 6, 2020 | access-date=June 5, 2021}}</ref> After that, its popularity began to decline.

<gallery mode=packed widths="100" heights="100">
Tang Xuanzong signature (huaya).jpg|Mark of [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang]] (685-762)
宋太祖御押 01.svg|Mark of [[Emperor Taizu of Song]] (927-976)
宋太宗御押.svg|Mark of [[Emperor Taizong of Song]] (939–997)
Song Huizong signature (tian xia yi ren).jpg|Mark of [[Emperor Huizong of Song]] (1082-1135)
Hongwu Emperor signature (Kao).jpg|Mark of the [[Hongwu Emperor]] (1328-1398)
Chongzhen Emperor signature (huaya).jpg|Mark of the [[Chongzhen Emperor]] (1611-1644)
Bada Shanren signature (huaya).jpg|Mark of the painter [[Bada Shanren]] (1626–1705)
Li Hongzhang Signature (Kao).png|Mark of general [[Li Hongzhang]] (1823-1901)
</gallery>

===Japan===
''Huaya'' first spread to Japan during the [[Heian period]] (794-1185), where it is called ''Kaō''.<ref>{{citation|script-title=ja:花押のせかい |trans-title=The World of Kaō|author=望月 鶴川 [Kakusen Mochizuki]| date=June 2005 |isbn=978-4-903059-03-7|publisher=朝陽会 [Chōyōkai]}}</ref> Though their use became far less widespread after the [[Edo period]], they continue to be used even by some contemporary politicians and other famous people.<ref name=Satou>{{citation|script-title=ja:花押を読む |trans-title=Reading Kaō|author=佐藤 進一 [Satō Shin'ichi]| date=September 2000 |isbn=978-4-582-76367-6|publisher=平凡社 [Heibonsha]}}</ref> The reading and identification of individual ''kaō'' often requires specialist knowledge; whole books devoted to the topic have been published.<ref>{{citation|script-title=ja:中世花押の謎を解く―足利将軍家とその花押 |trans-title=Cracking the Riddle of Kaō from the Middle Ages: The Ashikaga Shogunate and their Kaō|publisher=山川出版社 [Yamakawa Shuppansha]|author=上島 有 [Tamotsu Kamishima]|isbn=978-4-634-52330-2|id={{JPNO|20717189}}| date=December 2004 }}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed widths="100" heights="100">
Kaō of Taira no Tadamori.svg|Mark of [[Taira no Tadamori]] (1096–1153)
Kaō of Ashikaga Takauji.svg|Mark of shogun [[Ashikaga Takauji]] (1305-1358)
後花園天皇花押.png|Mark of [[Emperor Go-Hanazono]] (1418-1471)
Kaō of Tokugawa Ieyasu.svg|Mark of shogun [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] (1543-1616)
Hideki Tojo signature.svg|Mark of prime minister [[Hideki Tojo]] (1884-1948)
Joint letter of Five Elders (of Toyotomi).jpg|Marks of members of the [[Council of Five Elders]]
</gallery>

=== Vietnam ===
Huaya spread to Vietnam after Vietnamese independence from China. It was referred to as {{langr|vi|hoa áp}}. It was widely used during the [[Lê dynasty]] with both the [[Nguyễn lords|Nguyễn]] and [[Trịnh lords|Trịnh]] lords using their own {{langr|vi|hoa áp}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Võ |first=Vinh Quang |last2=Hồ |first2=Xuân Thiên |last3=Hồ |first3=Xuân Diên |date=29 June 2018 |title=Họ Hồ làng Nguyệt Biều - Hương Cần và dấu ấn của Đức Xuyên tử Hồ Quang Đại với lịch sử xã hội xứ Thần Kinh |url=http://tapchisonghuong.com.vn/tin-tuc/p2/c15/n26823/Ho-Ho-lang-Nguyet-Bieu-Huong-Can-va-dau-an-cua-Duc-Xuyen-tu-Ho-Quang-Dai-voi-lich-su-xa-hoi-xu-Than-Kinh.html |access-date=29 October 2024 |website=Tạp chí Sông Hương}}</ref> These {{langr|vi|hoa áp}} are seen in letters to Japan and other nations.<gallery widths="100" heights="100" mode="packed">
File:Nguyen Letter Seal 示.svg|The {{langr|vi|hoa áp}} on a 1635 letter to Japan.
File:Nguyen Letter Seal 書2.svg|The {{langr|vi|hoa áp}} on a 1684 letter to Japan.
File:Nguyen Letter Seal 曉示.svg|This {{langr|vi|hoa áp}} "曉示 hiểu thị" is from a 1606 letter by Nguyễn Hoàng 阮潢 to Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川家康.
File:阮潢 letter to 源家康.jpg|Mark of [[Nguyễn Hoàng]] (阮潢; 1525-1613) seen on a copy of a letter from Japan.
File:Letter by Minister Phúc Nghĩa Hầu of Cochinchina to the King of Japan.jpg|A {{langr|vi|hoa áp}} seen on a letter from Phúc Nghĩa Hầu (福義侯) to the “King of Japan”.
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Tughra]], stylised Arabic signatures used by Ottoman sultans
*[[Khelrtva]], stylised Georgian calligraphic signatures
*[[Monogram]]
*[[Seals in the Sinosphere]]
*[[Signature]]
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{commonscat|Kaō}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Calligraphy-stub}}
{{Japan-culture-stub}}
[[Category:Culture of Japan]]
[[Category:Japanese calligraphy]]
[[Category:Authentication methods]]
[[Category:Identity documents]]
[[Category:Signature]]