"Gold is easy to get, but Li Mo is hard to find" comes from "Mo Ji" written by He Chuan of the Song Dynasty.
The first ink maker recorded in historical records was Wei Dan (also known as Zhongjiang) during the Three Kingdoms period. He was known as "Zhongjiang's ink is as good as lacquer". He was not only an expert in making ink, but also an ink maker. Or a calligrapher.
Ink-making technology has been constantly improved with the development of the times, and there were even ink-making officials in the Tang Dynasty. The most famous ink makers are the brothers Yi Shui, Xi Nai and Xi Ding. They summarized the experience of their predecessors, improved their methods, steamed and combined antler glue, and produced an ink that was "rich in texture and smooth in texture" and "glossy like lacquer". The Xi family settled in Anhui from the Southern Tang Dynasty. The later master of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Yu, liked his calligraphy and gave him the national surname Li. The ink they made is called "Li Mo", and there is a saying that "gold is easy to get, but Li Mo is hard to find". Li Mo became the famous "Li Tinggui Mo" later.
Li Tinggui, a famous ink maker in the Southern Tang Dynasty, was originally named Xi Tinggui and his ancestral home was Yizhou (now Yi County, Hebei Province). At the end of the Tang Dynasty, he moved to Shezhou. His excellent ink making was highly appreciated by Li Yu, the later master of the Southern Tang Dynasty. He was appointed as an ink officer, given a national surname and changed his name to Li Tinggui. People in the Song Dynasty called the ink they made "the best in the world". During the Qingli period of the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a phenomenon that his ink was worth 10,000 yuan.