Why can seals using the same red paste print red or white characters?
同样用红色，为什么印出的字有红有白？
看中国书画时，你可能会看到小小的红色印章。
When looking at Chinese painting and calligraphy, you may see small red seals.
有的印出红字，有的却是红色一片，字是白的。
Some print red characters, while others show a red area with white characters.
同样用红色，为什么会有两种样子？
Why can the same red paste create two different looks?
印章是把图案或字印到纸上的小工具。
A seal is a small tool for printing a design or characters onto paper.
它的下面不是平平的一块，有些地方高，有些地方低。
Its underside is not one flat surface: some parts are higher and some lower.
高的地方沾上红色，印到纸上就留下红色。
The raised parts take the red paste and leave red marks on the paper.
第一种做法，是把字的线条刻低，让字外面的地方留在上面。
One method is to carve the character strokes lower and leave the area around them raised.
这样，字外面的地方印成红色，字的位置留下纸的白色。
The area around the characters then prints red, while their positions retain the white of the paper.
这就叫“白文”：白字在红色里。
This is called “白文”: white characters within a red area.
第二种做法正好相反：留下字的线条，把字外面的地方刻低。
The second method does the opposite: it keeps the character strokes raised and carves the area around them lower.
这时，印到纸上的是红字，字外面还是白色。
This time the paper receives red characters, while the area around them stays white.
这叫“朱文”，“朱”在这里是红色的意思。
This is called “朱文”; here, “朱” means red.
所以，白字并不是另外涂上白色，而是纸的颜色留了下来。
So the white characters are not painted on in white; they are the color of the paper left showing.
字是高还是低，决定了红色留在哪里。
Whether the characters are raised or recessed determines where the red remains.
下次看到红色印章，可以先看一眼：红的是字，还是字外面的地方？
Next time you see a red seal, first notice whether the red marks are the characters or the area around them.
