Four Famous Ink in Ancient China

Since the Tang Dynasty, Guangdong inkstone, She Yan, Taohe and Chengni inkstone platform have been called "four famous inkstones" together, among which Guangdong inkstone and She Yan are the most famous.

● Duan Yan

Duanyan began in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty. Duanshi is produced in Gaoyao County and Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province, and its color is mainly purple (divided into more than ten kinds of blue, purple, red and purple). Other colors are gray, blue-black, cyan and green. Its main characteristics are rich stone patterns, such as blue patterns (blue and black patterns on the inkstone surface), cinnabar nails (such as spotted hard red nails) and multicolored nails. And "stone eyes" shaped like animal eyes. The "stone eye" of the terminal stone is diabase condensate, and there are also stone insect fossils. Among them, "eyebrow eye painting" is shaped like myna eyes, and there are "pupils" in the halo, which is the top grade of "eyes"

When identifying the inkstone, tap the inkstone with your fingers and listen to its sound. A metallic sound indicates that the stone is hard and dense; The sound of wood shows that the stone is mild and low density; If it sounds like a tile, it means the stone is rough. The ancients summarized the characteristics of Duanyan as "jade-like, silent, ink-shrinking and non-rot", indicating that the "silent" Duanyan was the top grade. "Silent" inkstone is not that you can't hear the sound when you knock, but that the sound is gentle and subtle. It is worth noting that the sound made by the inkstone also depends on the thickness of the inkstone.

● View

Sheguan is produced in Wei Long (Tam) at the junction of Wuyuan County in Jiangxi Province and Shexian County in Anhui Province. She inkstone was first mined in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty (7 13-74 1) and flourished in the Southern Tang Dynasty. In the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Houzhu sent special inkstone officials to make official inkstones. She Yan was once admired by Ouyang Xiu, Su Dongpo and others.

There are many stone products in She Yan, which are mainly divided into ribs, eyebrows, eyebrows, Venus and aura. There is a saying in ancient times: "Tam inkstone, its grain is as fine as a rose, its color is blue and bright, and its management is firm and dense." Brush silk, silver brush as dense as hair. "Venus reinforcement refers to the crystal with grain on the inkstone surface, which is like the stars in the sky under the light. Venus does not fade after grinding for a long time, and it gets brighter and brighter as it grinds. It is the best in inkstone. Eyebrow inkstone, "if the pattern is marked, it looks like a thrush, and it matches everywhere." "

● Taohe inkstone

Taohe inkstone was produced in Taohe, Lintan County, Gansu Province, China, hence the name. It has a history of 1000 years. Taohe inkstone is made of deep water, which is very rare and is one of the precious inkstone materials. Taohe stone is delicate and crystal clear, with silky texture, such as waves rolling and clouds surging, which is beautiful and moving. There are two kinds of stone pottery: green stone pottery and red stone pottery, of which green stone pottery is the most expensive. Yan Tao is suitable for carving large-area pictures. Carving techniques include relief, through carving, high relief and so on. Its carving is simple and clear.

● Cheng Niyan

Cheng Ni inkstone is a non-inkstone material, belonging to ceramic inkstone. The production method is as follows: the filtered fine mud is used as raw material, mixed with yellow lead balls, vigorously kneaded, put into a mold for molding, carved with a bamboo knife, dried, fired in a kiln, and finally wrapped with black wax for firing. The production of Cheng Ni inkstone began in the Jin and Tang Dynasties and flourished in the Song Dynasty. Its characteristics are hard and wear-resistant, easy to ink, no ink consumption, comparable to inkstone. The main colors of Cheng Ni inkstone are eel yellow, crab shell green and rose purple. By the Tang Dynasty, Zhou Guo (now south of Lingbao County, Henan Province) had become a famous place of origin of Cheng Ni inkstone. In modern times, Cheng Ni inkstone is produced in Luoyang, Henan, Julu, Hebei, Qingzhou, Shandong, Jiangxian, Hubei, Ezhou, Sichuan and Baoshan, Jiangsu.

Before the Eastern Han Dynasty, inkstone was called "inkstone" for at least 3000 years. Four Treasures of the Study was crowned as an inkstone. When it comes to famous inkstones, it is always inseparable from "Duan, Yu, Tao and Cheng". This Guangdong inkstone, together with She Yan, Taohe and Chengni inkstones, is called the four famous inkstones in China, among which Guangdong inkstone is the first of all inkstones.

Duanyan: It is produced in Duan Xi, Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province. The common stone products in Duanyan include fish brain jelly, swinging blue and white flowers, banana leaf white, azure, jade, venus dot, water lines, money lines and stone eyes. Its production is very hard, from exploration, excavation, transportation, material selection, sorting, carving, polishing, water washing to packing, and its technology is exquisite and meticulous.

She inkstone: produced in Shexian County, Anhui Province, made in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty. It has natural textures: Venus, eyebrows, thin ribs, water waves and so on. "Venus" melts into the inkstone, and looks like many particles like autumn stars, shining brightly; Eyebrows are like "eyebrows", thick and thin, sparse and dense, each with a wink; "Water ripple" is like water ripple, which changes endlessly. Influenced by Huizhou brick carving and wood carving, She Yan's carving art has a unique artistic style, simple shape and generous symmetry.

Taohe inkstone: inkstone is produced at the bottom of Taohe River in Yantao Township, southwest Gansu Province. The color is dark green, and yellow water color can appear after polishing, such as waves and clouds. Taohe inkstone in Tang Dynasty is famous all over the world. It has the advantages of fast and bright ink, durability, long-term water storage without consumption, strong color, moisturizing and handwriting.

Cheng Niyan: Produced in Shaanxi, Cheng Niyan is made by sewing a silk bag into Fenshui, opening the bag mouth against the waves and filtering the sediment in the water. One year later, the bag was filled with mud, then it was taken out and air-dried to make inkstone blank, and then it was fired to make inkstone with ceramic texture. Finally, after a series of processes such as dressing, carving and polishing, Cheng Ni inkstone is fine and smooth, with vermilion color and eel yellow as the best.