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A display of intricately carved seals once owned by Chinese educator and reformer Cai Yuanpei. [Photo/Tide News]

Three personal seals once owned by Chinese educator and reformer Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940) have been donated to his former residence in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province.

The donation was made by Yang Xinyue, the widow of Cai's fourth son, Cai Huaixin. She discovered the seals — two jade and one wooden — while sorting through family belongings. The items were stored in a wooden box sealed with an old-fashioned lock engraved with three characters, which figuratively means "joy enters the house".

Cai served as president of Peking University and played a key role in China's early 20th-century cultural and educational modernization. He was a vocal supporter of academic freedom, cultural pluralism, and aesthetic education.

Shaoxing native Cai returned to China late in 1911 and became the newly formed Republic of China's Minister of Education in 1912. In 1917, he was named president of Peking University, a post he held until 1923.

He made a case for the study of art, science, culture, and philosophy. He taught students to break from the state's shackles, be free thinkers, and to learn for the sake of acquiring knowledge.

The seals, regarded as personal identifiers in traditional Chinese society, are considered both symbolic and historically valuable. They reflect major stages of Cai's life and his scholarly identity, said cultural heritage authorities in Shaoxing.

They confirmed the seals will be included in an updated exhibition at the Cai Yuanpei Native Place later this year.