印章是中华传统文化的瑰宝，其历史源远流长，其文化经久不衰。学界对中国印章的研究集中于艺术鉴赏和文字考古两方面。古印章是信用和权威意识的集中体现，“玺印”“符节”文化绵延千年，时至今日，印章仍是中国人必不可少的文房之宝、办公器具。值得注意的是，印章还是中国出版历史中至关重要且独树一帜的存在。 本研究主要论述印章在中国出版史上重要且独特的功能和地位。 第一，分析出版史视野下印章的起源。本文将史书与文物并列互证，得出最接近事实的印章起源时期，即殷商末西周初期；通过封泥的出版史研究，将印章起源研究转向中外出版史视域，甄辨中国印章与世界其他地区印章的内在联系。 第二，阐释印章独有的三大出版属性，即印章是集出版载体、出版符号、出版技术于一体的特殊“出版物”。作为出版载体的中国印章，金石印章和骨木印章都有其特殊的载体意义；作为出版符号的中国印章，佩饰图章和文字印章分别展示不同的符号意义；作为出版技术的中国印章，阳文篆刻和阴文篆刻从不同程度上推动了中国出版技术的迈进。 第三，探究印章与中国古代印刷术的起源具有的本体关联性和内在一致性，证明印章对中国古代出版思想和出版实践的启发和推动。中国印章滥觞虽非世界最早，但对印章使用方式的极大变异却发生于中国，即钤印对象从泥封转变为植物纤维纸。印章的钤印特性启发了刷印出版复制思想，佛教、道教等宗教利用印章捺印纸张以传播教义是中国最早的出版活动之一。可以说，多字印章是雕版印刷技术的雏形，单字印章是活字印刷术的产生源头。 第四，关注印章中蕴含的版权意识及数字印章等新生形态对现代出版的启示。宋明清时期，书籍出版“商品化”日益明显，刻书业产生版权意识之萌芽，印章为版权保护提供了可靠的技术支持。近代中国，印章在出版活动中的使用更加频繁。当今数字出版业蓬勃发展，电子印章为“虚拟出版物”版权的保护开出门路。印章体现的版权意识，也是提升出版管理实践的有效路径。 通过分析印章出版的相关要素，可以窥见印章在中国出版印刷史中的根本性和源头性地位。印章与古代出版技术有良性互动作用，中国印章文化高度发达，对印章在出版史上地位的探索是对世界文化史的独特贡献，利于唤醒人们对印章文化的重视，利于传承中华优秀传统文化，讲好“中国故事”。此外，印章使用过程中体现的“版权意识”也需得到学术界关注。

Seal is the treasure of Chinese traditional culture, which has a long history and enduring culture. The academic research on Chinese seal focuses on two aspects: artistic appreciation and character archaeology. Ancient seals are the concentrated expression of credit and authority consciousness. The culture of "Xi Yin" and "Fu Jie" has been going on for thousands of years. To this day, seals are still the indispensable treasure of study and office supplies for Chinese people. It is worth noting that the seal is also a crucial and unique existence in the history of Chinese publishing. This paper mainly discusses the important and unique functions and status of seal in the history of Chinese publishing. Firstly, the paper analyzes the origin of seal from the perspective of publishing history. By juxtaposing historical books and cultural relics to prove each other, the paper draws a conclusion that the origin of seal is the closest to the fact, that is, the late Yin and Shang Dynasty and the early Western Zhou Dynasty. Through the study of the publishing history of sealing clay, the research of the origin of seal is turned to the domestic and foreign horizons, in order to identify the internal connection between Chinese seal and seal in other parts of the world. Secondly, the paper explains the three unique publishing attributes of seal, that is, the seal is a special "publication" that integrates the publishing carrier, publishing symbols and publishing technology. As the publishing carrier, the golden stone seal and the bone-wood seal both have their special carrier significance; as the publishing symbol, the decorative seal and the text seal respectively display different symbolic meanings; as the publishing technology, Yang Wen and Yin Wen seal cutting have promoted the development of Chinese publishing technology in different degrees. Thirdly, the paper explores the ontological relevance and internal consistency between the seal and the origin of Chinese ancient printing, and proves the inspiration and promotion of seals on publishing thoughts and practices in ancient China. Although the seal of China is not the earliest in the world, the great variation in the use of seals occurred in China, that is, the object of printing was changed from mud seal to plant fiber paper. This feature of the seal inspired the idea of printing reproduction and publishing. Buddhism, Taoism and other religions used seal printing to spread their doctrines, which was one of the earliest publishing activities in China. It can be said that the multi-word seal is the prototype of the engraving printing technology, and the single-word seal is the source of the movable type printing. Finally, the paper pays attention to the copyright awareness contained in the seal and the enlightenment of new forms such as digital seal on modern publishing. During the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, the "commodification" of book publishing became more and more obvious. So that, there was a sprout of copyright consciousness in the book carving industry. At this point, the seal provided reliable technical support for copyright protection. In modern China, seals were used more frequently in publishing activities. Nowadays, with the development of digital publishing industry, electronic seal provides a way to protect the copyright of "virtual publications". The copyright awareness embodied in the seal is also an effective way to improve the practice of publishing management. By analyzing the relevant elements of seal publishing, we can see the fundamental and original status of the seal in the history of Chinese publishing and printing. The relationship between seal and ancient publishing technology is close, and the interaction is frequent. The Chinese seal culture is highly developed. The study on the status of the seal in the history of publishing is a unique contribution to the history of the world culture, which is conducive to awakening people's attention to the seal culture, facilitating the inheritance of Chinese excellent traditional culture and telling the "Chinese story" well. In addition, the "copyright awareness" embodied in the use of the seal also needs to be concerned by the academic community.