Su Yijian, a poet in the Song Dynasty, wrote in Four Books of the Study: "The Yellow Emperor got a jade button, and the ink sea was first made, which was called' the inkstone of Di Hong'". According to legend, this is the earliest inkstone in China. According to archaeological discoveries, grinders similar to inkstone existed more than 5000 years ago. Therefore, like other three treasures, inkstone has a long history.
Thousands of years of historical heritage, there have been many famous inkstones, among which there are four most famous ones, namely, the "four famous inkstones". They are Duanyan, Sheyan, Taoyan and Chengni inkstones. Whether discussing the history of inkstone, tracing the origin of inkstone, or collecting inkstone, these four famous inkstones play an important role that cannot be ignored.
If we summarize the characteristics of these famous inkstones, it is very appropriate to borrow the description of the ancients: "Smooth as jade, polished and bright, ink as oil, not astringent and not slippery, long-term storage of ink, firm but not dry, dignified and ancient, and its quality is fine and smooth." Translated into contemporary Chinese, it can be understood that the texture of the inkstone is very delicate, and it feels as smooth as a baby's skin but not like a rough stone. Its luster is as warm as jade, and it doesn't feel astringent or particularly slippery when it is ground, which just makes the contact surface between the inkstone surface and Mo Ding perfectly contact and can quickly grind ink. Moreover, the polished ink dipped in the paper feels perfect, which can control the direction and speed of the pen tip well and prevent the ink from being too thin. For Mo Ding, it won't wear too fast, and for the brush, it won't wear the hair of the brush. The ground ink can be kept dry for a long time and will not freeze when the temperature is low in winter.
The method of making inkstone is roughly the same. Take the four famous inkstones as an example. Guangdong inkstone, She Yan and Yan Tao are all selected stones, which are carved by inkstone workers, and then carved with patterns and characters as required, and finally polished into finished products. The only difference is the turbidity of the inkstone.
Cheng Ni inkstone is a kind of ceramic inkstone, which is made of clay, not stone inkstone. The inkstone made in Jiangxian County, Shanxi Province is the best. The local practice is to sew silk bags and put them into water separation, open the bag mouth along the direction of water flow and water wave, and filter the sediment in the water. A year later, the bag was filled with mud, which was taken out and air-dried to make an inkstone blank, and then burned to make an inkstone with a ceramic texture. Finally, after a series of processes such as trimming, carving and polishing, the inkstone is completed. The so-called "mud cleaning" is to wash the clarified mud. Because the clay after elutriation and clarification is very delicate, the effect after firing is much better than that of pottery.
After thousands of years of inheritance, these four famous inkstones are still praised by people of insight and have their own characteristics. These unique features can be roughly divided into two aspects. First, as one of Four Treasures of the Study's writing tools, the purpose of "writing" is good or bad. The second is to appreciate its special appearance, that is, the pattern of stone, which is formed by different raw materials. The ancient literati in China had a special liking and aesthetic taste for the things used around them, especially in the thousands of years of history, when the economy developed and the country was prosperous and the people were safe, the literati's pursuit of aesthetic taste, elegance and gentleness reached a very high stage. The four famous inkstones have greatly met this demand, so it is not surprising that they can be named as "the four famous inkstones".
The uniqueness of the first point has been used a lot in previous articles. Now the second point is the design of inkstone.
The ancients in China have carefully observed and summarized different kinds of inkstones for a long time, and gradually formed some proper nouns and terms, all of which have elegant and pleasant names, from which we can also appreciate the ancients' preference for inkstones.
The famous patterns in Duanyan stone are blue and white, banana leaf white, fish brain jelly, azure, ice pattern, stone eye and so on. The best fish brain jelly should be as white as a clear cloud, with light blue or lavender in the white and clear and thorough color. Fish brain frozen inkstone is noble in texture and particularly moist in stone. Blue as autumn rain, the sky is blue and boundless.
Jin Yinxing, ribs and eyebrows are famous patterns on She Yan stone. Such as money Venus, rain Venus, cloud Venus, rain Venus, etc. , are named according to the shape and size of their patterns. Venus melts into clouds, and clouds become golden rings. Golden halos also have different shapes and are named after similar objects, such as lying silkworms, dancing cranes, golden pot screens and Luohan caves. When Venus melts in the stone to an invisible degree, the inkstone becomes blue, especially charming and quiet. Among the rib patterns, the dark pattern is the most easily overlooked. At first glance, there is no bright color of Venus and Silver Star. But on closer inspection, it is found that it is fine and dense, firm and bright, and flawless. It is the best in the inkstone.
These patterns not only play a decorative role, but also represent the ancient people's pursuit of art and taste, and are also the material basis of various characteristics such as ink, astringency and smoothness. That is, because of these patterns, the inkstone has some physical properties, and it can achieve the effect that the ink is not astringent or slippery.
Personally, I think these names and adjectives are especially in line with my imagination of ancient culture, especially my aesthetics, and they are also one of the fundamental points of the unique charm of ancient culture in China.
The inkstones we see and use now are mainly made of stones and pottery. In fact, there are also some inkstones made of special materials in history. For example, metal inkstone, porcelain inkstone, and even wonderful materials such as wood inkstone and paper inkstone. However, these inkstones are mainly made of stones and pottery because of their poor material and poor effect. For example, the porcelain inkstone is too smooth and the friction is not enough, and the final result is not "inking".
The ancients were also very concerned about the use and maintenance of inkstone. Because the friction of inkstone is very frequent in use, it is essential to store water at ordinary times, change water when using it and brush it after using it. When not in use at ordinary times, be sure to ensure that there is water in the inkstone, ensure moisture, and change the water every day. When in use, the water stored at ordinary times should be poured out and replaced with new water mill ink. Pay attention to the angle and strength when grinding, so as not to damage the surface of the inkstone. When grinding ink, the circle must be large, otherwise it is easy to sag the center of the inkstone surface. Mo Ding should be taken out after ink grinding, otherwise it will cause Mo Ding to adhere to the inkstone surface and damage the inkstone surface. Wipe it with a soft textile in time after use, so as to avoid the formation of ink residue after the residual ink is dried, so that the Mo Ding, residual ink and the inkstone surface rub against each other and cause damage in the subsequent ink grinding process. If it is not used for a long time, it should be kept in an inkstone box.
Other stationery related to inkstone mainly includes inkstone box, water, inkstone screen and inkstone platform.
An inkstone box is an instrument used to preserve inkstones that have not been used for a long time. Usually made of wood. The ancients used precious wood such as rosewood and acid branches.
Water is a container for holding ink and grinding water, usually made of porcelain.
In fact, the inkstone screen is a small screen on the desktop, which is used to be placed near the inkstone platform after the ink grinding is completed to keep out the breeze and ensure that the ground ink will not dry quickly.
The inkstone is a tool placed on it when it is used, which can prevent the inkstone from shaking and spilling ink.
As an important part of Four Treasures of the Study, inkstone is a golden combination of pen, ink and paper. Just entering the modern society, the decline of traditional stationery is getting worse. Therefore, writing this article hopes to provide all stakeholders with an opportunity to contact and understand them, and also hopes that these traditions can continue to be passed down, and old trees will spit out new branches.
Presentation:
China has a history and culture of five thousand years. The development of modern science and technology, society and humanities seems to be getting farther and farther away from the tradition left by our ancestors. In fact, there are still many traces left by tradition in our lives. This topic shares these traditional contents from all aspects of life, and there will be some related contents for your reference. Dear friends, you can take this as the enlightenment knowledge of ancient traditional culture, and you can also show it to your children at home and talk about it, so that these thousands of years of culture can be passed down.
This article is the tenth article on this topic. List of published articles on this topic:
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Class 004 of Jinxiang Yuetang Private School-It's delicious but jiaozi.
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Class 007, Yuetang Private School, Jinxiang-Four Treasures of the Study Zhiyuguan
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Class 009 of Yue Tang Private School in Jinxiang-Mai Guang in Four Treasures of the Study