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These days it's a round plastic handle with a carved rubber bottom that pairs with a spongy red-ink filled bottom. There's a picture and an explanation at [1].

These days it's a round plastic handle with a carved rubber bottom that pairs with a spongy red-ink filled bottom. There's a picture and an explanation at [1]. It basically functions the same way as the signature of an authorized representative of the company does in the West. Presumably it comes out of personal seals which are a fun item to get if you're in China. I never interacted with someone who used them, but it's cool. See pictures at [2] and history at [3]. "Chop" is also frequently used instead of "seal". I assume its not onomatopoedic, but that is a fair description of the "thunk" sound produced to when the seal is quickly pounded against the document on the table. [1] https://www.china-briefing.com/news/company-chops-in-china/ https://www.china-briefing.com/news/company-chops-in-china/ [2] https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/chinese-seals.htm https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/chinese-... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_(East_Asia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_(East_Asia)

ithkuil 5y ago
In Japan seals/stamps (hanko) are still widely used as signatures.
- ravel-bar-foo 5y ago
  Ditto Korea. Something that shocked me is that it is common in medium-sized sole proprietorships (tech startups, small businesses, research labs) for the CEO to give their personal seal to the accountants/secretaries. It the West the equivalent would be giving away an autopen for your signature.
  - bombcar 5y ago
    It’s more common in the west than you think - we had a printer loaded with MIRC toner and a SIMM with the CEOs signature for printing checks.
  - Clewza313 5y ago
    There are different grades of seals for different purposes. The secretary will have the garden-variety "The company has received this shipment" chop; they will not have the "The company has agreed to this contract" chop.
  - mariojv 5y ago
    I wonder if they were giving their full official seal? I suppose if you're signing a ton of documents, handing that over might be needed. It would be interesting if there were a system to register certain seals with only some permissions (for example, manage business but not personal assets with a green seal). You could create a document stamped with your most important seal that indicates which seal is permissible for which purpose. In Japan, the official "hanko" seal with red ink carries the force of a signature, but other seals do not carry as much or any legal weight. https://www.nippon.com/en/features/jg00077/ https://www.nippon.com/en/features/jg00077/ That article talks a little bit about a similar system to the one I mentioned, where one seal is used for banking, one for title transactions, etc. Something like that but more customizable could be pretty useful.
  - barkingcat 5y ago
    in western companies, executive assistants very often have the exact same ability, up to and including signed full power of attorneys for executing on the ceo’s life where work blends into personal life. i’m not surprised at this at all. in the western context many executive assistants end up being appointed the executor of the ceo’s estate / will as a matter of business continuity.
- nguyenkien 5y ago
  Japan, Korea, Vietnam, China all using seal/stamp

ithkuil 5y ago

In Japan seals/stamps (hanko) are still widely used as signatures.

ravel-bar-foo 5y ago
Ditto Korea. Something that shocked me is that it is common in medium-sized sole proprietorships (tech startups, small businesses, research labs) for the CEO to give their personal seal to the accountants/secretaries. It the West the equivalent would be giving away an autopen for your signature.
- bombcar 5y ago
  It’s more common in the west than you think - we had a printer loaded with MIRC toner and a SIMM with the CEOs signature for printing checks.
- Clewza313 5y ago
  There are different grades of seals for different purposes. The secretary will have the garden-variety "The company has received this shipment" chop; they will not have the "The company has agreed to this contract" chop.
- mariojv 5y ago
  I wonder if they were giving their full official seal? I suppose if you're signing a ton of documents, handing that over might be needed. It would be interesting if there were a system to register certain seals with only some permissions (for example, manage business but not personal assets with a green seal). You could create a document stamped with your most important seal that indicates which seal is permissible for which purpose. In Japan, the official "hanko" seal with red ink carries the force of a signature, but other seals do not carry as much or any legal weight. https://www.nippon.com/en/features/jg00077/ https://www.nippon.com/en/features/jg00077/ That article talks a little bit about a similar system to the one I mentioned, where one seal is used for banking, one for title transactions, etc. Something like that but more customizable could be pretty useful.
- barkingcat 5y ago
  in western companies, executive assistants very often have the exact same ability, up to and including signed full power of attorneys for executing on the ceo’s life where work blends into personal life. i’m not surprised at this at all. in the western context many executive assistants end up being appointed the executor of the ceo’s estate / will as a matter of business continuity.
nguyenkien 5y ago
Japan, Korea, Vietnam, China all using seal/stamp