In Four Treasures of the Study, pens can't last long, pens are as old as grass, and books can't be written; Ink loses its glue and is easy to break; Although "paper lives for thousands of years", only high-quality rice paper can do it. Generally, paper will become brittle and gray when touched for a long time; Only inkstone is the strongest and immortal.
This inkstone integrates sculpture, calligraphy and painting. It is not only a learning tool, but also has cultural and artistic value. Here, we will explore the past lives of inkstone along the historical context.
The earliest inkstone found in archaeology is from the Neolithic age. It was found at the foot of No.7 skeleton of Tomb No.84 in Jiangzhai Site, Lintong. Covered inkstone 1 piece, stone roller 1 piece, and several pieces of black pigment, which seems to be a set of personal art tools. The black pigment was identified as manganese oxide.
Skull 7 may have been an artist before his death, and his age was around 4000 BC.
In Fu Hao's tomb in the late Shang Dynasty, more than 590 jade articles were unearthed. There is a dark green palette and a frame on three sides of the square. The bottom of the palette is painted with cinnabar, and a pair of parrots are carved on the back, which should be used for color matching, exquisite and beautiful.
Before the Western Han Dynasty, grinding machines with grindstones were generally used for color matching, which was suitable for the granular ink used at that time.
Confucius must have compiled the Six Classics with an inkstone. "Notes of Southern Dynasties" said: "There is an inkstone in Lukong Temple, which is very simple to make. Gai Fuzi lived in it all his life." But it is generally considered to be attached to future generations.
In the late Warring States period, two of China's earliest letters [dú] were unearthed in Qin Tomb No.4 Shuihudi, Yunmeng County, Xiaogan City, Hubei Province, along with stone inkstones and artificial ink blocks. The inkstone is made of irregular rhombic pebbles, with a length of 6.8~7, a width of 5.3~6 and a height of 2 cm. There are traces of use and ink marks on the surface of inkstone and polished inkstone.
The tomb of Fenghuang Mountain 168 in Jiangling, Hubei Province was the tomb of Emperor Wendi of the Western Han Dynasty in the 13th year of the Yuan Dynasty (BC 167). A complete set of writing tools was unearthed. When I found the ink, it was five dollars. The inkstone is circular, with a base diameter of 9.8, a thickness of 1.8 cm and a grinding inkstone height of 3.5 cm. There is ink on both inkstone and inkstone.
A lacquer box inkstone was unearthed from the Western Han Tomb at Jinqueshan 1 1 in Linyi, Shandong Province. The wooden lacquer box is used to place and protect the inkstone, with a length of 2 1.5, a width of 7.4 and a height of 0.9 cm. There is a groove on it, which is used to place slate inkstone and grind inkstone. When unearthed, the residual particles in the box were filled with black ink, and there was ink on the slate inkstone. Painted with vermilion, khaki and dark gray pigments on the outside and bottom of the wooden box, and then painted with black pigments, six kinds of cloud beasts are exquisite handicrafts.
The reason why this chapter is stuck in the Western Han Dynasty is that before the Western Han Dynasty, ink was an invisible small ink block and ink pill, so the inkstone before the Western Han Dynasty had to bring grindstones.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, ink was molded with ink, which made Mo Ding's appearance regular and hardness increased, so it could be directly dipped in water for grinding without the help of an inkstone. In addition, Cai Lun improved papermaking in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and paper became a writing material, so the progress of ink and paper prompted the inkstone to change. Most inkstones unearthed after the Eastern Han Dynasty have no inkstones.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the inkstone platform was generally round with three feet, represented by the Shuanglong Gai three-legged inkstone unearthed from the Eastern Han Tomb in Sizhuang Village, Cangxian County, Hebei Province.
Multi-foot inkstone evolved in Wei and Jin Dynasties.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, inkstones were made very fastidiously, and there were all kinds of inkstone boxes for inkstones. An animal-shaped bronze inkstone box with a length of 25 and a width of 14.8 cm was unearthed from the Han Tomb in xuzhou east, Jiangsu. There is an inkstone in it, which is a fine work of art. ..
[zh] In the Jin Dynasty, most inkstones were concave to store more ink.
China's porcelain firing technology matured in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and ceramic inkstone appeared in Wei and Jin Dynasties.
Among the stone inkstones, the stone carving square inkstone unearthed from the Northern Wei architectural site in Datong, Shanxi Province is the most exquisite. There are ear-cup-shaped pools and Fang Bi licks on both sides of the center of the inkstone. In one corner of the inkstone surface, there are lotus pen inserts and bead pen licks, and the whole body is embossed with patterns such as Lux, Yunlong, Suzaku and waterfowl holding fish. The site of the excavation is the former site of Yongning Temple, the royal temple of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which may be the inkstone used by the royal family of the Northern Wei Dynasty.