Inkstone Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Helan stone inkstones hold extremely high artistic value; as late as the end of the Qing there was the saying 'first Duan, second She, third Helan.' From the 1960s to the 1980s, the three disciples trained by Yan Zijiang—Chen Meirong, Shi Kejian, and Yan Senlin—could each independently design and make Helan inkstones and became arts and crafts artists; later apprentices such as Yan Shuying, Yang Wu, Fan Qingyun, and Zhang Fengling were added.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Helan stone inkstones are produced at Xiaogongzhongkou in the Helan Mountains, 40 kilometers west of Yinchuan city. As early as the 'Ningxia Prefecture Gazetteer,' compiled in the 45th year of Qianlong, Qing (1780), records in its geography section on mountains and rivers: 'Bijia Mountain, at Xiaogongzhongkou in the Helan Mountains, has three peaks standing erect like a brush rack, below which purple stone emerges that can be made into inkstones, commonly called Helan Duan.' Since its discovery in the Qianlong reign it has been mined continuously to this day. Helan stone has a fine, even, and uniform structure, a delicate texture that is both firm and supple, with two overlaid colors of bean-green and deep purple, between which are inlaid stone eyes, jade belts, cloud patterns, and brow marks forming various figurative designs, so inkstone makers all pay attention to using 'skillful color' carving in their patterns. Helan stone inkstones produce ink quickly, with fine ink that does not damage the brush hairs. In the Guangxu reign of the Qing, Zhang Yunting, a man from Hubei, came to Ningxia as a soldier and passed the inkstone-making craft to Yan Wanqing and Yan Wannian. As adults, the two became somewhat famous in Yinchuan for their good inkstone carving. Yan Wanqing had three sons: Yan Zijiang, Yan Ziyang, and Yan Zihai. Before liberation, the 'Yan Family Inkstones' famed in Yinchuan all came from the Yan father and sons, among whom Yan Zijiang's skill was the most exquisite. In addition, the disciples trained by Yan Ziyang—Shi Biao, Wang Wenhua, and Wang Yi—also successively became arts and crafts artists, bringing the Helan stone inkstone craft to its fourth generation of transmission.
Quarrying and matching stone at Xiaoguzhongkou
Stone comes from Xiaoguzhongkou in the Helan Mountains west of Yinchuan, recorded in the 1780 Ningzhou prefectural gazetteer as purple stone fit for inkstones; each block is read for its green-purple banding before cutting.
Carving to the colours
The knife follows the stone's own eyes, belts, clouds and moon-marks, using the block's colours, shape and thickness so the motifs set one another off.
Gourd-form and other following-the-stone designs
Works such as the gourd stone, the Li Bai watching the waterfall stone and the Strong Wind over Helan stone are fresh yet archaic, with fluid outlines and delicate texture.
Testing ink behaviour
A finished stone is judged by quick ink release, fine ink texture and gentleness to the brush — the three tests before it may sit on a desk.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The transmission lineage of Helan inkstones is concentrated in the area west of Yinchuan city. The stone comes from Xiaogongzhongkou in the Helan Mountains, 40 kilometers west of Yinchuan city; according to the geography section on mountains and rivers of the 'Ningxia Prefecture Gazetteer' compiled in the 45th year of Qianlong, Qing (1780), Bijia Mountain at Xiaogongzhongkou in the Helan Mountains has three peaks standing erect like a brush rack, below which purple stone emerges that can be made into inkstones, commonly called Helan Duan. The quarry and the workshops are not far apart, convenient for cutting the stone immediately after reading it—this is also the geographic condition by which this inkstone's color-reading, stone-judging work has been transmitted. In the Guangxu reign of the Qing, Zhang Yunting, a man from Hubei, came to Ningxia as a soldier and passed the inkstone-making craft to Yan Wanqing and Yan Wannian, who as adults gained fame in Yinchuan for their good carving; Yan Wanqing had three sons—Yan Zijiang, Yan Ziyang, and Yan Zihai—and before liberation the 'Yan Family Inkstones' famed in Yinchuan mostly came from the Yan father and sons, among whom Yan Zijiang's skill was the most exquisite. In addition, the disciples trained by Yan Ziyang—Shi Biao, Wang Wenhua, and Wang Yi—also successively became arts and crafts artists, bringing the Helan stone inkstone craft to its fourth generation; Yan Senlin, born in 1952 in Yinchuan, learned the craft from his father Yan Zijiang from childhood and, over sixty years of practice, inherited the traditional craft and design style of the 'Yan Family Inkstones.' What passes between generations is the house-keeping eye for reading the stone: Helan stone has a fine, even, uniform structure, a delicate texture both firm and supple, with two overlaid colors of bean-green and deep purple, between which are inlaid stone eyes, jade belts, cloud patterns, and brow marks, so inkstone makers mostly work on skillful color, exploiting the material's own color distribution, natural shape, and thickness to make their point. Representative works include the 'Gourd' inkstone, the 'Li Bai Watching the Waterfall' inkstone, and the 'Majestic Helan' inkstone—with flowing forms, ingenious conception, and delicate, rounded, brilliant texture.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Yan Senlin (per the official archive of the associated inheritor): male, Han ethnicity, born November 1952, from Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Representative inheritor of the inkstone-making craft (Helan inkstone making craft), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project, in the fourth batch. Born into an inkstone-making family, he learned the Helan inkstone craft from his father Yan Zijiang from childhood. Over sixty years of practice he inherited the traditional craft and design style of the 'Yan Family Inkstones,' grounded mainly in reading the stone and using skillful color, adapting the craft to the material, fine carving, meticulous polishing, and a broad range of subjects, fully exploiting the material's own color distribution, natural shape, and thickness in design and making, to achieve the artistic effect of patterns setting each other off. Representative works include the 'Gourd' inkstone, the 'Li Bai Watching the Waterfall' inkstone, and the 'Majestic Helan' inkstone—both fresh and elegant and vigorous and archaic, with flowing forms, ingenious conception, and delicate, rounded, brilliant texture, rich in appreciative and artistic quality, displaying the regional character of Helan inkstones. Helan stone inkstones have been mined continuously since their discovery in the Qianlong reign of the Qing, and by the end of the Qing there was already the saying 'first Duan, second She, third Helan,' showing how early its name entered the literati's appraisal. What four generations of transmission have left behind is not only a set of methods but also a body of verifiable master-disciple relationships and a set of accomplished works, giving the 'skillful color' technical line continuous corroboration. From the use side, Helan stone inkstones produce ink quickly, with fine ink that does not damage the brush hairs; from the material side, the overlaid bean-green and deep purple, with stone eyes, jade belts, cloud patterns, and brow marks each in their place, mean that almost every block of stone can be read as a design—this is the most irreplaceable aspect of Helan inkstones among contemporary inkstones. The inheritor Yan Senlin is grounded in reading the stone and using skillful color, adapting the craft to the material, fine carving, meticulous polishing, and a broad range of subjects; his works are both fresh and elegant and vigorous and archaic, displaying a distinct regional character.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zou Hongli 03-1394
- Lin Yongmao 03-1395
- Li Maodi 03-1396
- Yan Senlin 04-1895
- Lusuozhong 05-2828
- Lin Tao
- Lai Jianhua
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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