Information and pictures of Duan inkstone in Qing Dynasty

As one of the ancient Four Treasures of the Study in China, inkstone is not only a practical tool, but also has profound cultural connotation. Whether in collection, appreciation, inkstone carving or academic circles, the theory of "four famous inkstones" is popular, and there are often arguments about what "four famous inkstones" are. Based on years of collection experience and literature research, the author points out that the term "four famous inkstones" seems to have been formed in history, but in fact, it is very common to sort out and evaluate various inkstones or famous inkstones in ancient times, and there is no such term. There are many kinds of materials and shapes of inkstones, and even the same inkstone has different qualities. There are different famous products in different periods, and different people have different famous products in their minds. We must fight for short and long, and we must say "four famous inkstones", which will inevitably lead to misunderstandings.

Ink stone platform is not only a practical tool, but also has profound cultural connotation, which is worth further study. The theory of "four famous inkstones" prevails in collection, appreciation, inkstone carving and academic circles. For example, the famous inkstone sculptor and inkstone historian said, "Since the Tang Dynasty, there have been four famous inkstones in China, namely Duan, Mian, Tao and Hongsi. In the future, HongLing will be replaced by mud ... "(Identification and appreciation of famous ink, Cultural Relics Publishing House, 2008, p. 1 page). For another example, Ji Ruoxin, a Taiwanese historian, said: "The Song Dynasty was a modern person in the history of inkstone carving technology, and at this time, the four kinds of inkstones, namely Duanyan, Lianyan, Hongsi and Taohe, were the four famous inkstones at that time. Later, because the red silk stone could not be mined, and ceramic mud inkstones were added, it was still the four famous inkstones in the Song Dynasty (Essay on Shuangxi Cultural Relics of the National Palace Museum, 206538+). What's more, in order to discuss the so-called "four famous inkstones" in history, we misread historical materials, such as Anqing Feng said: "When did the so-called" four famous inkstones "in China originate? At present, the accepted view is from Su Yijian's "Yan Pu" in the Northern Song Dynasty, which says: "There are more than 40 kinds of inkstones, with HongLing stone in Qingzhou as the first, Fukeshan stone in Duanzhou as the second, Weilong stone in Zhangzhou as the third, and Taohe stone in Gansu as the fourth." (Yan Tao, a famous inkstone in China, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, 20 10, pp. 7-8) In fact, there is no such thing as "the fourth Taohe stone in Gansu" in Su Yijian inkstone.

According to various statements, the formation of the "four famous inkstones" in history can be divided into three types: Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. It is said that there are two kinds of inkstones in the "four famous inkstones": HongLing inkstone, Duanyan, Sheyan, Sheyan and Duanyan, Sheyan, Taohe inkstone and inkstone. It is said that after HongLing inkstone withdrew from the "four famous inkstones" after the Song Dynasty, there were two kinds of words: Taohe inkstone and Cheng Ni inkstone.

Some people have doubts about the origin of the four famous inkstones, but they still admit that there are four famous inkstones. For example, Fu's China Famous Ink HongLing Ink said: "In fact, the origin of the four famous inkstones is difficult to verify. ..... The author rashly concluded that it may be that the Tang people naturally got used to the saying that she inkstone, Duan inkstone, Hongsi inkstone and Taohe inkstone appeared one after another before and after the dynasty, which was passed down to later generations. " Wu's "Distinguishing Famous Inks" said: "It is difficult to test the ancestors of the four famous inkstones", but he also thought that "objectively speaking, the karma of the four famous inkstones will be different, and their influence will rise and fall, but they all belong to the famous inkstones in the history of inkstones, and the top four are well-deserved".

Of course, there are people who objectively describe the history of inkstone, not talking about the so-called "four famous inkstones". For example, in Jo Yeo-jeong's Interpretation of Antique Mysteries in Gu Yan during the Republic of China, he said: "There are more than 100 kinds of inkstones in the history of books ... but the value of inkstones, besides the body, is those whose works are excellent, with wonderful facets, left by celebrities, or whose stories are closed. Another example is the publication instructions written by Guangling Bookstore for the second editions of Yuewei Caotang and Guiyunlou: "After Sui and Tang Dynasties, due to the development of ink-making technology, the quality of inkstones was high, and famous inkstones such as Duanyan, She Yan, Hongsi inkstone, Taohe inkstone and Chengni inkstone were discovered one after another. "

Generally speaking, the term "four famous inkstones" seems to have been formed in history, but in fact there is no such term in history. All kinds of so-called "four famous inkstones" are purely false. Searching for historical documents, we find that the arrangement and evaluation of various inkstones or famous inkstones in history are roughly as follows.

First, related inkstone history and inkstone spectrum generally discuss inkstones, and the discussion is in order, but it is not the ranking of famous inkstones.

The History of Ink by Mi Fei in the Northern Song Dynasty is the earliest extant monograph on the history of inkstone. According to the General Catalogue of Sikuquanshu, the book lists Jin inkstone and Tang inkstone, and records all kinds of inkstones from Jade inkstone to Cai Zhou White inkstone, totaling 26 kinds. And in the end, it is particularly detailed with two stones. " There are 25 kinds of inkstone and inkstone recorded in the book (in fact, there are only 25 kinds, Qingzhou bluestone inkstone is discussed twice, without distinction), and their descriptions are as follows: Jade inkstone, Gexian Gongyan, Huayanni Temple Rock, End Rock, She Yanshi ... "They claim to have witnessed the users, otherwise they will not be recorded. Its intention is extremely cautious. " It can be seen that there were not all kinds of inkstones at that time, and there was no intention to rank famous inkstones.

The first volume of Gao's Notes on Inks in the Southern Song Dynasty describes Duan inkstone, the second volume describes it, and the third volume describes 65 kinds of other inkstones. He described Guangdong inkstone and She Yan in one volume, which showed that he attached great importance to these two kinds of inkstones, while others did not see their special love for some inkstones or had formed a ranking.

The Xiqing Yanpu, which was officially compiled during the Qianlong period, has 25 volumes. "Its sequence belongs to pottery first, and there are six volumes from Hanwa to Ming Dynasty. Next to the stone, there is a total of 15 volumes from Jin Wang Shui Yan to Dynasty Zhu Yizun Minefield Yan. * * * for inkstone two hundred ". By analyzing the characters of Xiqing Yanpu, we noticed that the "Taoshu" in volumes 1 to 6 respectively described the tile inkstone in the East Pavilion of Han Weiyang Palace, the tile inkstone in the North Greenhouse of Han Weiyang Palace and the eight-edged clear inkstone, but did not put the "clear inkstone" in a particularly important position. The "Stone Genus" in Volumes 7 to 2 1 describes the inkstone. Among them, volumes 7-15 are recorded according to historical years, and volumes 16-2 1 are recorded according to stone types, so we may be able to appreciate the editor's ranking of famous inkstones. The first 48 square inkstones are all Duan inkstones, followed by Hongsi inkstone, Weilong inkstone, Suixi inkstone, Taohe inkstone and Ruocun inkstone. But this only shows a tendency, and there is no order of the "four famous inkstones".

Secondly, related discussions rank the famous inkstones in a certain period in history, but they are not the so-called "four famous inkstones".

Liu Gongquan was the first person to discuss the famous inkstone. Liu Gongquan's Biography of Old Tang Dynasty said: "In general, Qingzhou stone powder is the first, ink research is easy to cool, followed by Jiangzhou black inkstone." After the Song Dynasty, there were more and more comments. Luo Yuan, a poet in the Song Dynasty, said in Xin 'an Zhi (10) and Xu Za Shuo Yan: "There are more than forty books about learning in Su Yijian, among which Hongsishi in Qingzhou is the first, Axeshan in Duanzhou is the second, Weilongshi is the third, and the rest are all in the middle and lower level." (Publisher: There is no such record in Su Yijian's Sikuquanshu, but there is a missing article. ) If so, * * * lists three kinds of HongLing inkstone, Duan inkstone and Rowen inkstone. "Xin" quoted Cai's "Four Books" as saying that apart from Duan inkstone and She inkstone, "it is not enough for pottery". If so, there are only two famous inkstones: Duanyan and She Yan.

The Textual Research of the General Examination of Literature (Volume 229) said: "In the Song and Tang Dynasties, the red stone was the first, followed by the tail stone." If so, two famous inkstones, HongLing inkstone and Duan inkstone, are listed. He also quoted Tang Xun's "Mo Lu" as saying: "Under the HongLing Stone, there are 15 kinds of ink stones, and one of the ten kinds of stones is: Qingzhou HongLing Stone, Duanzhou Axe Ke Stone, Zhangzhou Wuyuan Stone, Guizhou Datuo Stone, Zizhou Jinque Stone, Zizhou Lapis lazuli, Wanzhou Hanging Gold Cliff Stone and Rong Lu Touchstone. It can be said that there are eleven kinds of stone inkstones.

Textual research on Eight Chapters of Respect for Life in Ming Dynasty (Volume 15) said: "The ancients were headed by Duanyan, and Duan Xi was divided into old pits and new pits. ..... Stone throwers in Longweixi have stronger swords, so their predecessors used them more. Venus is the most expensive thing, and the stone is a little rough. ..... The green stone of Taohe River is slightly blue and moist as jade, and the ink does not reduce the rocks under the stream. It's hard to get out of Shaanxi, and the river is deep ... "Even the best ones are Duanyan and Taohe inkstone. Nevertheless, before discussing Taohe inkstone, he talked about Hu Guangyuan inkstone and Li Xiyan. Gu Yan in Cao Zhao's Gegu Yaolun in Ming Dynasty involved six kinds of inkstones in turn: Duanyan, She Yan, Wanzhou Jinxing inkstone, Taohe inkstone, Tongquetai Tile inkstone and Weiyang Palace Tile inkstone. Feng Fang's Ji Shu (the book has only one volume, and the Summary of Sikuquanshu says that "Ji Shu has one volume, so there is no need to write people's surnames", which is considered to be "written by Feng Fang, a Yin man in Jiajing") divides the famous inkstone into two types: "The inkstone is a magical product, named Ge Xian Weng Yan, which comes from Fangcheng County, Tang Dynasty.

A Book of the Past Dynasties: Inkstone, one of Ni Tao's Records of Six Arts in Qing Dynasty (Volume 308), first discusses Qingzhou HongLing Stone, then Duanzhou Stone, then discusses Zhangzhou Wuyuan County Weilong Stone, and then discusses Zizhou Zichuan County Jinque Stone and Lapis lazuli. In Ni Tao's view, the main famous inkstones are HongLing inkstone, Duanyan and Sheyan. Gao's view is roughly the same. His History of Inks and Thirty-seven Copies say: "Qingzhou HongLing inkstone is older than the inkstone spectrum, which is the top grade and should be on the right side of the end." Wu, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said in Volume 50 of Geng Ji: "Qingzhou Hongsi Stone 1, Taohe Stone 2, Stone 3, Zhangzhou Stone 4 and Ruocun Stone 5 are all stones. There are jade, gold, magnetism, lacquer and different kinds. " If so, it can be considered that five kinds of inkstones have been discharged: Hongsi inkstone, Taohe inkstone, Duanyan, She Yan and Ruocun inkstone.

As can be seen from the above example, no matter what ranking method, or two, or three, or five, or six, or more than ten, there is no arrangement of the four famous inkstones.

Third, even famous inkstones have different evaluations from different people in different periods.

Such as Qingzhou inkstone, Liu Gongquan was rated as the first, Ouyang Xiu pointed out that Guo inkstone was the first inkstone in the Tang Dynasty, and "Qingzhou and Weizhou inkstone were all tile inkstones. It is good at making ink, which is not the ratio of graphite. If it is a little thicker, it will damage the pen "(Volume 72 of Wen Zhong Ji, External Collection 22 Ink Spectrum). Another example is purple inkstone in Qingzhou, and Mi Fei's evaluation is the highest. He believes that "the old people will get purple stones" and "the first product in the world is also the best" (Volume 8 of Jin Bao Ying Guang Ji, Essays). As Song people, one opinion generally agrees with this, while the other is against it. Zeng Yao, who generally agreed, said: "Qingzhou purple stone looks like Duanzhou Xikeng stone and has been inked" (Lei Shuo, Volume 59, Four Books of the Study, Inks). Sun Xiang said, "Zijin is in Linqu, its color is purple and moist, its ink is like an end, and its appearance is extraordinary" (Notes on Inks and Various Inks, Volume 3). Opponents Hu Zai said: "Qingzhou purple stone is rich in arts and sciences, and it does not produce ink" (Dongpo IV, volume 29, after the lingering sound). Ouyang Xiu said: "Qingzhou purple stone, which is rich in arts and sciences, does not need ink, but is only used by JD.COM people" (Volume 72 of Wen Zhong Ji, Volume 22 of Wai Ji, and Ink Spectrum). In the twenty-third appendix of Xiqing Yanpu, Qianlong thinks that purple inkstone is similar to Duan inkstone: "It looks like Sun Yan's purple stone on the surface, purple and moist, and ink is like end to end ... that is, the inkstone is of good quality and fine cutting, comparable to the inkstone forest."

HongLing inkstone, once known as the first inkstone, was also denied by many famous artists. Mi Fei is the least optimistic about HongLing inkstone. In the history of ink and articles, he thinks that "HongLing stone is very good", but as an inkstone, "those who are generally white and have red stripes will slow down the ink, but they will also be stained with ink and not washed, so they must be polished. ..... Slow people will fade after passing, and will crack when frozen. You can't grind ink when it's dry. They can only use it after soaking it. It is not good for the goods to wash it once. " Ouyang Xiu believes that HongLing inkstone is exquisitely made and can be a masterpiece of desk furnishings. "It's too unreasonable to say that we won the stone" (Wen Zhong Ji 148, Wu Shujian). Cai Xiang's view is roughly the same as Ouyang Xiu's: "Tang Yan-you made a HongLing inkstone, which was the best in the world from the beginning and descended from the end of the rock. The commentator liked the end of the rock, so he refused to start with it. " (Duanming Collection, Volume 34, Essays) Hu Zai, who is also a poet in the Song Dynasty, comprehensively said: "Yu Jin compromised the three schools, Dongpo combined Yan You's theory, and praised Shu's theory too much. When I saw this stone, it was wet and not boring, but it was hard and slippery, and it was not very inky ... "(Dongpo IV, Volume 29)

As for Duanyan and Eryan, some people think that Duanyan comes first and Duanyan comes last. For example, Ouyang Xiu said: "The end stone comes out of the end stream, and the color is bright and moist. This is according to Zishi. ..... Duanshi is not only more important than custom, but also on his inkstone. However, there are ten people who send ink, just for fun. Stone comes from Longweixi, Shi Jian and Moduo, so it was used a lot in the last life, and Venus is the most expensive. ..... The rocks in northern Duan Xi are at the top, and the beaten tail is on the deep stream. Compared with its advantages and disadvantages, the beaten track is far away in Duan Xi "(Wen Ji, Volume 72, Wai Ji, Volume 22, Salt Shop). Some people think Duan Yan is the best, and She Yan is the second. For example, Fang Yizhi, a famous scholar in Ming Dynasty, thought that "Duanyan is the most important thing today". "From this point of view, (compared with HongLing inkstone), fine ink is always inferior to Duanyan, and the second time is the second time" (Tongya, Volume 32, Use).

In fact, there are many kinds of inkstone, ceramic inkstone, clay inkstone, purple sand inkstone, porcelain inkstone, tile inkstone, brick inkstone, jade inkstone, crystal inkstone, wood inkstone and metal inkstone. According to the shape of inkstone, there are many kinds, such as foot-supported, geometric, bionic and random. In terms of inkstone names, there are different famous products in different periods, and different people have different famous products in their minds. As the same kind of inkstone, its quality varies with different pit locations, different geological levels and different mining years. If we want to fight for our own shortcomings, but also say "four famous inkstones", it will inevitably lead to misunderstandings.