Inkstone Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
In the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, the Songhua stone inkstone was at one time fashioned under imperial order by the Imperial Workshop, with rectangular forms predominating; in the Qianlong reign oval inkstones were more common, and this standard of form has continued to the present. From the Yongle reign of the Ming dynasty until 1912, Qiaotou Town in Benxi was continuously a folk inkstone-making center in the Northeast, and its folk inkstones were once known as 'Qiaotou inkstone', 'Liao inkstone', and 'Benxihu stone inkstone', among other names. The Qianlong-era 'Xiqing Inkstone Catalogue' (Xiqing yan pu) records that the Songhua stone inkstone is 'green in color, glossy, smooth, and fine, ranking alongside the Duan and She inkstones.' According to the 'Benxi City Annals' (Benxi shi zhi), in 1929 the Benxi stone inkstone participated in the China Hangzhou Exposition and won a first prize.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Songhua stone inkstone making technique is a traditional inkstone making craft that uses the Guandong Songhua stone as raw material, integrates the traditional 'palace method' (gong zuo fa), and emphasizes the use of color and the preservation of natural form. It currently spreads through Mingshan District, Xihu District, Nanfen District, and Huanren Manchu Autonomous County of Benxi City, Liaoning Province. The Songhua stone inkstone material is as warm and smooth as jade, hard yet fine; it is slippery without rejecting ink and astringent without hindering the brush. Its color is green, intermingled with purple and green, or purple and yellow, alternating or layered. The process of the Songhua stone inkstone making technique mainly comprises stone selection, shaping, carving techniques, ornamentation, and inkstone inscriptions. Generally one selects green Songhua stone of warm, pure color for the stone; the inkstone box is made of purple-and-green or yellow Songhua stone; the forms are rectangular or oval; carving uses such techniques as low relief, deep relief, and openwork, with the blade following rounded, inwardly restrained lines; the ornamentation is mostly based on archaic bronze vessel (ding and yi) patterns, with the remainder being auspicious motifs such as fortune, salary, longevity, joy, and good luck. The Benxi Songhua stone inkstone making craft differs considerably from other folk inkstone types; its distinctive feature lies in the use of the 'palace method', that is, the systematic method of court inkstone making. According to research, the Qing court's imperial Songhua stone inkstone was first made in the twenty-eighth year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, created by the Kangxi Emperor, who also wrote the 'Essay on Inkstone Making' (Zhi yan shuo). From the Kangxi reign to the present, it has been taken as inkstone material to be presented to the throne. The first-generation inheritor of the Benxi Songhua stone inkstone, Chen Guangqing, was originally an imperial inkstone-carving craftsman of the Qing court's Imperial Workshop; after Puyi abdicated, in order to make a living he went to Qiaotou Town and made his living by crafting inkstones, after which the craft was passed down from master to apprentice through the generations, and to this day it has gone through four generations.
Archival Process Records
The process of the Songhua stone inkstone making technique mainly comprises stone selection, shaping, carving techniques, ornamentation, and inkstone inscriptions.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Songhua stone inkstone centers on Benxi; the stone and craftsmen of Mingshan District, Xihu District, Nanfen District, and Huanren Manchu Autonomous County constitute its distribution, and the most concentrated source is Qiaotou Town of Benxi: from the Yongle reign of the Ming dynasty until 1912, Qiaotou was continuously a folk inkstone-making center in the Northeast, and its works were sold far and wide under such names as Qiaotou inkstone, Liao inkstone, and Benxihu stone inkstone. In the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, the Imperial Workshop fashioned Songhua stone inkstones under imperial order, with rectangular forms predominating and oval inkstones more common in the Qianlong reign; this standard of form has continued down to the present. The Qing court's imperial Songhua stone inkstone was first made in the twenty-eighth year of the Kangxi reign, created by the Kangxi Emperor, who also wrote the 'Essay on Inkstone Making'. The first-generation inheritor, Chen Guangqing, was originally an imperial inkstone-carving craftsman of the Qing court's Imperial Workshop; after Puyi abdicated he went to Qiaotou Town to make inkstones for a living, and thereafter the craft was passed down from master to apprentice through the generations, to this day four generations. In other words, the Songhua stone inkstone of the Benxi area is not locally indigenous, but the result of the 'palace method' moving south and then joining with the local stone veins; its systematic method is what is called the palace method. This lineage has left traces in both form and subject matter: the shapes take the two paths of rectangle and oval, the ornamentation is mostly based on archaic bronze vessel patterns with the remainder being auspicious motifs such as fortune, salary, longevity, joy, and good luck, and the blade follows rounded, inwardly restrained lines—a clear distinction from the rough, bold blade work of ordinary folk inkstone types.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Songhua stone inkstone making technique blends nature and art and carries historical cultural context; it is not only a treasure of Chinese traditional handicraft, but also embodies the craftsman's pursuit of natural beauty combined with superb skill, carrying historical inheritance and cultural innovation, and possesses high artistic-aesthetic and cultural-research value.
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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