Huizhou Ink Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
In 1958, the Shanghai ink-making establishments Hukaiwen, Zhandayou, Cha Ermiaotang, and others were merged into the Cao Sugong house, and Cao Sugong became the representative of contemporary "Shanghai-style Huimo (Anhui ink)."
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In the sixth year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty (1667), Cao Sugong founded the Cao Sugong Ink Studio in Yansi Town, She County, Anhui. Its ink-making craft comprises soot-refining, material-mixing, ink-forming, mold-carving, turning and airing, and gilding, and has been transmitted for thirteen generations over more than three hundred years to this day. During the Tongzhi reign (1864), the Cao Sugong Ink Studio moved from Suzhou to Shanghai. The metropolitan environment of Shanghai and the influence of Shanghai-style (Haipai) culture caused the Cao Sugong ink-stick craft to begin innovating, developing into an ink-making craft with Shanghai-style characteristics. Starting with the ninth-generation descendant Cao Duanyou, the studio made custom-plate ink for celebrated Shanghai calligraphers and painters, and the artists in turn participated in designing the drafts. Because the carving of the ink molds became a second artistic creation, the artistic style of the ink surface kept pace with Shanghai-style calligraphy and painting, and Shanghai-style Huimo emerged in response, complementing each other. The Cao Sugong ink-stick craft is precious intangible cultural heritage, but due to the dwindling of old artisans and lack of successors, the erosion of production tools (especially the Ming and Qing old ink molds) and insufficient raw-material supply, and the shrinking consumer base for ink sticks, it has gradually declined.
Six stages of ink making
Smoke, mix, cast, carve, turn and gild — the six stages that have passed through thirteen generations since 1667.
A Shanghai manner of ink
Moved to Shanghai in 1864, the house took on the city's cosmopolitan taste, with new moulds designed by local painters.
Thirteen generations of ink
Thirteen generations of makers have kept the ink hard as jade and slow-burning, the recipe and glue timing passed by word of mouth.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Cao Sugong ink-stick craft centers on present-day Huangpu District, Shanghai; its source is the Cao Sugong Ink Studio founded by Cao Sugong in Yansi Town, She County, Anhui, in the sixth year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty (1667). During the Tongzhi reign (1864), the Cao Sugong Ink Studio moved from Suzhou to Shanghai; the metropolitan environment of Shanghai and the influence of Shanghai-style culture caused the Cao Sugong ink-stick craft to begin innovating, developing into an ink-making craft with Shanghai-style characteristics. The Shanghai Zhou Huchen Cao Sugong Brush-and-Ink Co., Ltd. is the project's protecting unit.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Huizhou Ink Making Craftsmanship · Huizhou Ink Making Craftsmanship · Huizhou Ink Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Cao Sugong ink-stick craft is already in danger of being lost; the surviving rare Ming and Qing ink molds urgently await rescue and protection. Lu Jianqing (per the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born March 1952, a native of Shanghai. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the Huimo ink-making craft (Cao Sugong ink-stick craft), an Intangible Cultural Heritage project. A Cao Sugong ink-stick-making technician. Having practiced for thirty years, long engaged on the front line in ink-stick making and management, he inherited the ancient "Yumi" and "Yishui" ink-making methods. He excels at making high-grade oil-soot ink sticks and custom-plate ink, with exquisite craft; the ink surfaces have clear texture, the ink is as hard as jade, and its color shows a violet sheen, winning multiple awards. Representative works include the high-grade oil-soot calligraphy-and-painting set "Lanshan in the Rain," the high-grade oil-soot calligraphy-and-painting ink "Tiezha Weng," the antique set "Eulogy of the Eighteen Arhats," and the custom-plate ink "Portrait of Master Tailu." In 2009 he was granted the title of Ink-making Art Master by the China National Light Industry Council and the China Stationery and Painting Materials Association.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhou Meihong 01-0186
- Wang Aijun 03-1334
- Lu Jianqing 04-1859
- Wang Peikun 05-2769
- Xiang Desheng
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。