This seal is fashioned from stone quarried from the Shoushan area of Fujian Province. The knob is carved as a turtle-like dragon (called a tuo), while the bottom inscription features Chinese characters in the seal script. It was carved in the first year of the Yongzheng reign. The Yongzheng Emperor once said that from the earliest of times it has behooved emperors to maintain the worship of heaven and esteem for ancestors as their prime duty in the governance of their domain. This duty was important for the Yongzheng Emperor from the beginning and to the end of his reign, and this seal reflected his emphasis of the principle. He often impressed this seal on his own calligraphic works.

       “敬天尊祖”玺，清雍正，寿山石质，鼍龙纽方形玺，篆书。面6.6cm见方，通高9.5cm，纽高4.5cm。

　　《清宫内务府造办处活计档》记载：雍正元年（1723）“正月二十三日，怡亲王交红色寿山石鼍龙钮图书一方，奉旨：镌‘敬天尊祖’。钦此。于四月初八日红色寿山石鼍龙钮图书一方，镌‘敬天尊祖’字样完，配做锦匣，怡亲王呈进。”据此，知此宝刻于雍正元年。乾隆皇帝上雍正尊谥册文曰：“钦惟皇考大行皇帝道协清宁，功隆位育，敬天而虔昭事，孚精意于郊坛；法祖而笃显承，致孝忱于庙佑。”比照雍正帝一生之言行，则知此评之不谬。雍正帝曾言：“自古帝王统御天下，必以敬天法祖为首务。”何谓敬天，则曰：“人君出治，仰承天命，俯临百官，必也上之明于天戒，而省愆修德，而选才任能，以收赞襄之益，故曰厥后惟明明也。苟不能明于天戒，是不知敬天，固无足论矣。”所谓法祖，则为“祗遵成宪”、“一切遵循成法”，具体而言，则是“用人行政，事事效法皇考，凡朕所行政务，皆皇考已行之旧章。所颁谕者，皆皇考所颁之宝训。初未尝少有所增损更张也”。敬天尊祖是雍正继位初期十分重要的执政思想，并一直贯穿于其整个执政过程之中。此宝正是这一思想的真实反映。
　　此宝是雍正帝早期重要宝玺之一，经常钤盖于其御笔书法之上。