Touch: When you get the inkstone, you can touch it by hand. If it feels as smooth and delicate as a child's skin, it means that the stone is better; If it feels rough, it means that its stone quality is poor.
Knock: Hold the inkstone surface empty with five fingers, tap lightly, or play the inkstone with your fingers and listen to its sound. If it is the inkstone, the sound of wood is the best, followed by the sound of tile, followed by the sound of gold. These three different voices respectively reflect the tenderness and age of Duanyan Stone. The crisp metallic sound of "clang, clang" when striking the inkstone is the best. If the sound is "poof, poof", it means that the stone is muddy or has dark scars, which is inferior.
Wash: It is best to wash the inkstone, especially in Gu Yan, because the surface of the inkstone is covered with ink marks, which blurs the natural beauty of the inkstone and can't tell the age of the pit. So wash the ink marks on the inkstone to see if there are any scars and repaired marks.
Weigh: weigh the inkstone by hand. Generally speaking, inkstones of the same size have tight cementation and fine particles; Light cementation is loose. The weighing method is especially suitable for she inkstone.
Sculpture: The quality of the stone is the first consideration for the quality of the inkstone. If you are familiar with the inkstone, you will immediately feel the advantages and disadvantages of the inkstone as long as you gently carve a few lines on it.
Extended data:
Origin:
Ink stone, pen, ink and paper are the traditional Four Treasures of the Study in China, and they are the necessary tools for China's calligraphy. The inkstone is not only the stationery of the study, but also a rare collection of literati in past dynasties because of its solid nature and immortality.
The materials of inkstone are rich and varied. Besides Duanyan, Rolling Stone, Taoheshi, Mudstone, Xugong inkstone, Yishui inkstone, Turquoise, Redstone, Strange Stone and Chrysanthemum Stone, there are dozens of kinds of jade inkstones, jade miscellaneous stone inkstones, tile inkstones, lacquer sand inkstones, iron inkstones and porcelain inkstones.
Ink stone develops with the development of pen and ink. The earliest inkstone was inkstone. In the Han Dynasty, due to the invention of hand-made ink, ink can be directly ground on inkstone, so inkstone began to develop, and there appeared copper inkstone, pottery inkstone, silver inkstone, Xu, wood tire lacquer sand inkstone and so on. The most prominent thing from the Six Dynasties to the Sui Dynasty was the appearance of porcelain inkstones.
The Tang Dynasty is an important period for the development of inkstones, with two inkstones, namely Duanshi and Huishi. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the materials for making inkstones were more abundant, including tile inkstones, iron inkstones, tin inkstones, jade inkstones, ivory inkstones and bamboo inkstones.
When the study of wooden inkstone began is still inconclusive, but it was mostly in the Qing Dynasty. Wood is not suitable for making inkstones because of its nature, but the romance of literati combined this bold attempt with the ingenuity of craftsmen, leaving us with many exquisite furnishings for the study.
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