Duanyan is one of the four famous inkstones in China. It is famous for its dense, firm, tender, delicate, shiny, unique and colorful stone patterns and exquisite carving art. It is as soft and firm as children's skin, and it is silent when rubbed. It has the characteristics of standing water, breathing, grinding ink, no damage to hair and fast inking. Duanyan is characterized by delicate texture, light weight, moist and compact, and tight lines. Guangdong inkstone made of this stone has moderate hardness. When grinding ink, the ink is fast and not easy to dry. The font color written with ink at the end of inkstone is not easy to change color and fade. In summer, as long as you press your hand in the center of the inkstone, water vapor will appear. Even in winter, using inkstone will not freeze.
The reason why Duanyan can become the first of the four famous inkstones is that it has a long history, special materials, warm and delicate stone, no damage to the brush, no freezing in winter and no deterioration in summer, which can improve the stability of ink and make it stand out as the first of the four famous inkstones. In fact, people's understanding of Duanyan began in the Song Huizong era, because Song Huizong himself was a calligrapher and had a special liking for Four Treasures of the Study, especially Duanyan.
Duanyan has a cultural background and a long history. Duanyan first appeared in the Tang Dynasty, when it was mainly practical, mainly studying ink and wash. In the Song Dynasty, some carved patterns began to appear in Duanyan, which were more exquisite. The design of Duanyan style in Ming dynasty tends to be diversified, while Duanyan style in Ming and Qing dynasties is more exquisite and more ornamental. The output of Duanyan is scarce, and scarcity is precious. The mining of Duanyan is not simple, and it takes more than a dozen processes to be mined into stones that can be preliminarily carved.