Talk about the first brand, origin and advantages of ancient Four Treasures of the Study in China?

Huimo-Anhui

Xuan paper-Anhui

Duanyan-Guangdong

inkstone

Although inkstone ranks first among the "pens, ink, paper and inkstone", on the one hand, it is in a leading position, headed by the so-called "Four Treasures of the Study" inkstone, which is solid in texture and can be passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, in today's society, inkstone is the most common collection in Four Treasures of the Study, and it is also the most widely loved.

When was the earliest inkstone in China formed? What's the difference between it and the inkstone we use now?

The history of inkstone is as long as that of ink. In the late 1970s, a set of painting tools, including inkstone, grinding rod and inkstone cover, was unearthed at the Neolithic site in Jiangzhai, Shaanxi, about 7000 years ago. 1975 The inkstone of the Warring States period unearthed from the Qin tomb in Shuihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei Province is made of pebbles. But at that time, ink was a natural ore, and inkstone needed the assistance of grinding rod to grind ink into fine size. When did the shape of the pestle or stone mill inkstone change, that is, the pestle or stone mill was cancelled and it was close to the present inkstone? As far as we know, until the Han Dynasty. Since manual ink making was invented in Han Dynasty, ink can be ground directly on inkstone, so it is not necessary to grind natural or semi-natural ink with pestle or stone. From this point of view, the grinding pestle or grinding stone gradually disappeared in the long course of more than 3 thousand years in prehistoric times and Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Although it is no longer used today, its contribution to spreading culture is still indispensable.

In addition to inkstones, there are ceramic inkstones in Gu Yan, and the famous "Cheng Ni inkstone" is a famous brand in inkstones. Porcelain inkstone includes celadon inkstone in Southern and Northern Dynasties, celadon inkstone in Song Dynasty, cyan inkstone, Longquan inkstone and kiln inkstone. In addition, there are tile inkstones in the Han and Wei palaces.

Inkstone has always been loved by literati, so it has other names, such as "Stone in Void", "Jimohou", "Wanshijun", "Stone Township Hou" and "Iron Face Shangshu".

kind

There are many kinds of inkstones, among which Duanyan and She Yan are the most precious.

Duanyan is the best inkstone, named after it was produced in Duanzhou (now Zhaoqing, Guangdong), during the reign of Emperor Wude of Tang Dynasty (6 18-626). "The History of Duan Xi Inks" praised it as "light and soft". It is silent and like a child's skin, soft but not slippery. "Its advantage is that it does not damage the pen and is easy to send ink. In addition, the end stone also has beautiful textures, such as fish brain jelly, banana leaf white, blue and white, fire pressure, ice lines, stone eyes and so on. From the initial emphasis on practicality, Duanyan gradually moved towards aesthetics, and its processing became more and more complicated. In addition to different shapes and qualities, various patterns such as landscapes, figures, flowers, birds and animals are carved according to their textures.

She inkstone was produced in the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty (765,438+03-7465,438+0), and was also named after the producing area of She Zhou (now Jiangxi). Because the inkstone material is produced in the stream around Weilong Mountain in Wuyuan, it is also called "Weilong inkstone". Its stone is bluish gray, its texture is softer than that of Duan Xi stone, and its ink quality is worse than that of Duanyan stone, so it is easier to dry. The famous varieties are Wei Long, rib, Venus, eyebrow and so on.

In addition, there are Qin bricks, Han tiles, jade inkstones and pottery inkstones.

Main points of use

Fill it with water when you use it and wash it when you don't use it. Wash inkstones with warm or cold water, not boiling water. It is best to use loofah.

Don't ink the inkstone after grinding, which may damage the surface of the inkstone.

Method of selecting inkstone

The form of inkstone, whether square or round, should be "fine stone", and stone can be used to grind it quickly and finely without damaging the pen. Second, the inkstone should be concave, which can store more ink.

paper

Paper is one of the four great inventions in ancient China. Long before the invention of paper, what did people use as notes?

According to the literature and physical data, the earliest people used knots to take notes. When something happened, they tied a knot and solved it when they were finished. Later, he carved on the tortoise shell, which is called "Oracle Bone Inscriptions". After the bronze wares were made, they were engraved with inscriptions, namely "Bronze Inscription" or "Zhong Dingwen". Then, write the words on the pieces cut from the bamboo, which are called "bamboo slips". For example, a wide piece of bamboo is called a "bamboo slip". At the same time, some of them are also written on silk fabrics. In the pre-Qin period, in addition to the above materials, words carved on stones were also found, such as the famous "Shi Guwen".

As we all know, paper was invented by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The invention of paper promoted the development of world science and culture. Therefore, Cai Lun was selected by contemporary American scholars as one of 100 historical figures who had the greatest influence on human life. Cai Lun's paper-making deeds were first recorded in The History of the East compiled by Serina Liu and others in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Cai Lun papermaking takes bark, rags and fishing nets as raw materials, which opens the history of papermaking with plant fibers. The paper he made is called "Cai Hou Paper".

However, recent archaeological excavations have questioned this. With the progress of archaeological work along the Northwest Silk Road, many sites and tombs of the Western Han Dynasty have been discovered, including many paper cultural relics. These documents are named after the place where they were unearthed. These papers not only predate Cai Lun paper, but also have ink fonts on some papers, indicating that they have been used to write documents. According to the chronological order of ancient paper unearthed at present, it can be arranged as follows: Fangmatan Paper, Baqiao Paper, Xuanquan Paper, Maquanwan Paper, Juyan Paper in the Middle Western Han Dynasty and Dry Beach Paper in the Late Western Han Dynasty.

In the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, papermaking developed further, not only the raw materials expanded, but also the producing areas and varieties increased.

Xuan paper, which has far-reaching influence and enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad, began in the Tang Dynasty and was named after it was produced in Xuancheng, Anhui Province. The main raw material is celadon bark, supplemented by Shatian grass. It is tough, soft and has a long life. It has the reputation of "a thousand years in paper" and is suitable for painting and calligraphy. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it became the official document paper and calligraphy and painting paper of the imperial court and government, and it has a long-standing reputation and has become the first choice for painters and painters.

Even in the prevalence of machine-made paper today, some traditional handmade papers still reflect its irreplaceable role and glow with unique brilliance. Ancient newspapers can still get a glimpse of him in Gu Shuhua.

kind

There are many kinds of rice paper, which can be divided into three types: cotton material, clean skin and ultra-clean skin. In terms of thickness, there are single declaration, double declaration, two-layer tribute and three-layer tribute. From the processing technology, it can be divided into raw propaganda, cooked propaganda and semi-cooked propaganda (raw propaganda has strong water absorption; Cooked Xuan is made of raw Xuan and alum, which is hard and does not absorb water; Half-cooked Xuan can absorb water, but it is not as easy to penetrate as raw Xuan.

Calligraphy paper also includes fringed paper, bamboo curtain paper, white paper, Qidu paper, Liu Ji Xuan paper, tiger skin Xuan paper, wax paper, clay paper, Korean paper and so on.

Main points of use

Practice writing small characters with fringed paper, big characters with light yellow seven-degree paper, and screens with belly rice paper and cold gold stationery.

Beginners learn to write with rough paper that absorbs ink. After practicing for a long time, they naturally find it easy to write when they meet pure glossy paper.

Copying posts should use glossy paper, which is thin and transparent and easy to copy.

Temporary posts should use Tian Zi grid, Jiugong grid and Gong Hui grid paper for convenient arrangement.

Use soft pen for hard paper and hard pen for soft paper, which is the key to the middle way of "the weak are strong and the strong are weak".

Paper selection method:

The selection of Xuan paper is based on the principle of good water absorption and coordination with pen and ink. Don't use smooth paper, that is, it doesn't leak ink and leave no pen, so you can't write hard.

black

The impression of ink seems a little simplistic, but it is an indispensable article in ancient Chinese characters. With the help of this original material, the fantastic artistic conception of China's paintings and calligraphy can be realized. The world of ink is not boring, but rich in connotation. As a consumable, ink can be presented intact today, which is very precious.

Before the invention of artificial ink making, natural ink or semi-natural ink was generally used as writing material. Prehistoric painted pottery patterns, Shang and Zhou Oracle Bone Inscriptions, bamboo slips, silk paintings and so on have left traces of original ink everywhere. According to documents, ink was also used in ancient ink punishment (face painting), ink rope (carpenter's use) and ink turtle (divination).

When manual ink making began, historical data had not been accurately recorded. According to legend, the first ink maker was Xingyi in Zhou Xuanwang. Xin's "The Source of Things" records: "Xing Yi made ink, and history began with silk calligraphy". After this long course, in the Han Dynasty, artificial ink finally began to appear. This kind of ink raw material is taken from pine smoke, which is first kneaded by hand and then molded, and the ink quality is solid. According to Ying Shao's "Han Guan Yi" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, ministers, servants, honesty and lang gave a large amount of ink and a small amount of ink every month. "Elk Garden is located in Qianyang County, Shaanxi Province, near Zhong Nanshan Mountain. It is famous for its rich pine trees, which are used to make ink. From the production to the final product, there are many processes such as glue injection, blending, steaming and baking, and there is also a molding process. Ink carving is an important process and also an artistic creation process.

The first ink maker recorded in the history books was Dan Wei (word lieutenant) in the Three Kingdoms period, and he has the reputation of "ink-like lieutenant". He is not only an ink maker, but also a calligrapher.

With the development of the times and the continuous improvement of ink-making technology, ink-making officials also appeared in the Tang Dynasty. The most famous Mohists are Yi Shui and Ding Brothers. They summed up the experience of predecessors, improved the method, and steamed the ink with antler glue to make the ink "rich in muscle greasy" and "oily as paint". Since the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Yu, the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, has been given the title of Li because of her love of ink. The ink they made is called "Li Mo", and there is a saying that "gold is easy to get, but Li Mo is hard to find". Li Mo was later called "Li Tinggui Mo".

In the Ming Dynasty, the ink industry was mostly concentrated in southern Anhui, forming Shexian and Xiuning schools. Shexian School created the "lacquer smoke" method, and only then did it create the "Nine Mysteries and Three Extremes Ink" which was unprecedented. Wang Zhongshan of Xiuning County is the founder of "Ji Jin Ink", which makes ink not only practical, but also a handicraft with artistic appreciation value. In the Qing dynasty, ink paid more attention to aesthetics, and most of the patterns and inscriptions were exquisite and meticulous, which had artistic appreciation and collection value.

The shapes of ink are generally square, rectangular, round, oval and irregular. Ink mold is generally composed of front, back, top, bottom, left and right six pieces, while circular or idol-shaped ink mold can be synthesized only by four or two pieces. Built-in ink, close the hammer and smash the finished product. Most of the nib is engraved on the side, so that the ink mold can be easily replaced when it is reused. There are many forms of ink, which can be divided into natural ink, lacquer ink, gold ink and lacquer ink.

kind

Song Yanmo used pine branches to burn cigarettes, which were then made of rubber and spices. The ink is thick and dull, and it is easy to get water.

Oily tobacco ink is made by burning tobacco with oil (mainly tung oil mixed with sesame oil or lard, etc.). ), and then add rubber, musk, borneol, etc. And the ink is black and shiny. Oil smoke ink is fine and light, and the inkstone is silent.

Main points of use

When grinding ink, wash Su Mo in the inkstone first.

Grinding ink should be patient, hard, even, equal in weight and patient.

Grinding ink should be moderate in shade, too thick is dull and inflexible; Too light and easy to penetrate, the color is light, and the words written lack expressiveness.

Ink must be freshly ground every day. It should be used immediately after grinding, and the rubber coal should be separated every other day and cannot be used again.

Ink selection method

What kind of ink is top grade? First, the texture is tight and delicate. The so-called hard and fine means that the texture is dense and the ground particles are fine. Second, the color is black and bright, with black and purple light as the best, followed by pure black and green light. Third, the gums are moderate, too heavy to stick to the pen, too light and not strong.

Choose ink with fine and clean texture, smooth color and silent glue. If there are impurities in the glue, it is not suitable. For beginners, in order to save time and trouble, fine ink may be used, but the ink should also be ground with a little water to disperse its dregs. If you write a rice paper screen, you must grind the ink, so that you can write freely and it is not easy to ink it when mounting. Pen ink is not available.

pen

Brush is listed as the first in Four Treasures of the Study. According to legend, this brush was created by Meng Tian, a general of Qin Dynasty. Zhang Hua, a native of A Jin, recorded in his Natural History that "Meng Tian made pens". In Zhou Xingsi's thousand-character writings in the Southern Dynasties, there is also a saying that "pens are tied with paper", and Meng Tian is regarded as the ancestor of pen-making. In recent decades, with the new archaeological discoveries, the appearance of brush can be traced back to more than two thousand years ago. Although no writing brush has been seen in the Western Zhou Dynasty and above, some traces of writing with a pen can be found in prehistoric painted pottery patterns and Shang Oracle bones. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the brush was widely used to write bamboo slips and silk books. The writing brush of the Spring and Autumn Period was found in the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Leigudun, Suizhou City, Hubei Province. It is the earliest pen found so far. Later, the Warring States pens unearthed in Zuojiagong Mountain, Changsha City, Hunan Province, the Qin pens unearthed in Shuihudi, Yunmeng County, Hubei Province, and Fangmatan, Tianshui City, Gansu Province, and the Han pens unearthed in Mawangdui, Fenghuang Mountain, jiangling county, Gansu Province, Wuwei, Xuanquanjia, Ma Quan Bay, and Guguyan, Inner Mongolia, all have rare and precious materials.

According to 1975, judging from the three brush pens unearthed from Qin tomb in Yunmeng Sleeping Tiger Land, Hubei Province, the pens in Meng Tian era have been made very well. Meng Tian's words have never been seen in official history books. According to Records of the Historian, before he became a general, he had "tasted the script of the book prison". In the biography of Mao Ying written by Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty, there is such a record: General Meng shot a mountain rabbit and made a pen for Qin Shihuang. Therefore, the writing brush has another name "Guan" and "Zhongshujun". It can be inferred that General Meng is an expert in pen making and is famous for his technological innovation.

Traditional brush is not only an essential tool to study the ancients, but also has a unique charm in expressing the special charm of China's paintings and calligraphy. However, because the brush is fragile and difficult to preserve, ancient pens that have been passed down to this day are rare.

There are many producing areas of brush in China, which can be roughly divided into two schools: "Hu Pen" and "Xiang Pen" according to different producing areas and production techniques. Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Anhui and even Beijing all belong to the "Hu Bi" series; Generally speaking, Gannan belongs to the "elephant trunk" series.

kind

1. The size of the pen is divided into:

According to the size of the pen, it is divided into three types: large, medium and small. In addition to ordinary large, medium and small letters, the largest is Beijing Hawthorn Pen, Bucket Pen, Pen-lifting and Screen Equivalence, and the smallest is Gui Pen.

2. Bihao's raw materials are divided into:

According to the different raw materials, it can be divided into wool pen, wolf brush, purple brush and double-stranded brush.

(1) Ranunculus. This pen is made of goat hair. Wool pen is soft in texture and absorbs a large amount of ink, which is suitable for writing with round and solid stippling. More durable than a wolf's brush. Most of these pens are lake pens, which are relatively cheap. Generally, there are big pens, Jingti (or pen lifting), Lianfeng, Feng Ping, Ding Feng, Gaifeng, flagpole, Jade Bamboo Shoots, Yulanrui and Jingzha.

(2) Wolf brush. This pen is made of the hair on the tail of a weasel. The rat tail produced in Northeast China is the most common, and it is called "North Langhao" and "Guandong Liao Wei". Wolf hair is stronger than wool pen and suitable for writing and drawing, but it is not as durable as wool pen and more expensive. Common varieties are Zhu Lan, freehand brushwork, landscape, flowers, Ye Jin, costume patterns, red beans, small seiko, deer and wolf hair calligraphy and painting (made of wolf hair and deer hair), leopard and wolf hair (made of wolf hair and leopard hair), special long-peak wolf hair, super long-peak wolf hair and so on.

(3) font size. The writing pen is made of rabbit hair, so it is named for its purple, black and bright colors. This pen is tall and straight, sharp and sharp, and it is more elastic than a wolf's hair. Anwei's rabbit hair is the best.

(4) Double-sided brush. This pen is made of two kinds of animal hair with different hardness and softness. Common varieties are double-stranded brush, wolf sheep, double-stranded brush and purple sheep, such as five-purple five-sheep and seven-purple three-sheep. This pen has the advantages of both sheep and wolves, moderate rigidity and moderate price, and is commonly used by painters and painters. There are two types: harmonic type and quilt type.

In addition, there are pens made of chicken feathers, mountain horses, moustaches and bristles. There are also white hair, green hair, yellow hair, sheep hair, horse hair, deer hair, musk hair, badger hair, raccoon hair, mink hair, moustache, rat tail, tiger hair, wolf tail, fox hair, otter hair, orangutan hair, goose hair, duck hair, chicken hair, pheasant hair, pig hair and so on.

3. The length of bristles is divided into:

The front is long, the middle is short.

4. The texture of the pen tube is divided into:

There are Phyllostachys pubescens, Phyllostachys pubescens, Phyllostachys bambusa, Phyllostachys pubescens, Pterocarya pterocarpus, Sandalwood, Nanmu, Rosewood, Chamomile, Carved Lacquer, Green Lacquer, Snail, Ivory, Rhinoceros Horn, Tortoise Shell, Jade, Crystal, Coloured Glass, Gold and Silver, Porcelain.

5. According to the purpose of using the pen, there are also nicknames:

Pure and clean, round and smooth, right army calligraphy and the like, most of these pens are of good quality and moderate size, and there are dozens of them.

nature

1. Hard pen hair such as:

Bristle brush, purple brush, wolf brush, mouse brush.

2. Soft pen hair such as:

Wool brush, feather brush.

3. The pen of neutrality is as follows:

Double brush. (For example, three purple and seven wool, five purple and five wool, seven purple and three sheep wool. )

Main points of use

Write big characters with lanolin, and small characters with purple hair, wolf hair and double-stranded brush (it would be better if you could write small characters with lanolin). Write official script with wool.

Write Oracle Bone Inscriptions with bristles, and write official script with wool.

Used pens must be washed with clean water at any time, and no ink can be left.

Pen selection method

Take "sharp, neat, round and healthy" as the principle. That is, the pen should be sharp; When flattening, it should be neat, and when writing, it can be spread out on all sides, not flat or scattered into a circle; The elasticity of the pen is good, and writing for a long time is healthy. If there is a lot of lanolin and it is not easy to write, beginners can choose a slightly thinner pen. As for the ordinary fountain pen, it must not be used.