The appearance of pen and ink and inkstone originated from the late Neolithic age almost at the same time. As consumables, before the invention of manual ink making, natural ink or semi-natural ink was generally used as writing materials. According to the Collection of Shu Ancient Calligraphy, Xingyi began to make ink, and the characters were made of black soil, soot and earth. In other words, the history of artificial ink began in Zhou Xuanwang. Xingyi ink making is also the beginning of artificial ink making. The appearance of artificial ink greatly surpassed natural ink in quality, use value and aesthetics, so natural ink was gradually eliminated. In the Han Dynasty, the raw materials of ink began to come from pine smoke, followed by lacquer smoke and tung smoke. It was pinched by hand at first, and it was very loose. Later, it was molded, and Mo Ding was made by gluing, mixing and steaming, which made the ink durable.
According to the existing historical data, the production of Huimo can be traced back to the end of the Tang Dynasty. Due to the Anshi Rebellion, a large number of people in northern Mo Gong moved southward, which led to the southward movement of the ink-making center. Chao and his son, from Yizhou, fled to the south of the Yangtze River. Seeing the dense pine forests and clear streams here, they settled down and started their ink-making business again. The ink-rich muscles he created are greasy and smooth as paint.
In the Southern Tang Dynasty, Li Yu, the late ruler, got the Mo Bao of Xi. Therefore, he appointed his son Ding as the official of Mo, and gave him the title of Li as a reward, so the family changed its surname to Li. Since then, Li Mo in Zhangzhou has become famous all over the world, with the reputation that gold is easy to get and Li Mo is rare, and the national ink making center has also moved south to Zhangzhou. Since then, Mohist masters have emerged one after another, such as Gengshi, Changyu, Pangu, Woods and Dai Yanheng. Huizhou ink industry entered its first heyday.
During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Mo Gong added drugs to become medicinal ink on the basis of predecessors. People not only used ink, but also began to hide ink, so ink began to develop in the direction of handicrafts.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the production of Huimo entered a prosperous stage. With the rapid development of social economy and the surge of output, the ink-making technology has also been continuously improved. The painting and carving of ink and wash patterns and the decoration and production of lacquer boxes reached their peak. Famous workers and famous products emerge in an endless stream, forming the Xiuning School, which is represented by, and Fang. The production of Huimo in Qing Dynasty was divided into four famous systems: Cao Sugong, Wang Jiean, Wang Jinsheng and Hu Kaiwen, among which Wang Jinsheng and Hu Kaiwen were all from Jixi County. They improved and innovated Huimo on the original basis, and finally made it a literary treasure like gold. Among them, Longxiang Ink, Tianchen Ink, Xiantao Core Ink, Wei Zixing Ink, Fish Play Lotus Ink, West Lake Ten Scenes Ink, Earth Ink, etc. are all peerless works, which make Huizhou Ink have the characteristics of paint falling on paper, deep color, enduring, non-stick paper and pen, rich fragrance and greasy texture. Hui ink in this period can also be divided into pine smoke, oil smoke, lacquer smoke and super lacquer smoke according to different raw materials, among which the most precious is high-grade oil smoke ink such as super lacquer smoke, which exudes purple jade luster and can be used for calligraphy. Used in painting, it is thick but not stagnant, light but not gray, and has distinct layers, so it is highly praised by painters and painters of all ages.
Hu, a famous ink and wash woodcarving artist in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, was also from Shangzhuang, Jixi County. They are the representatives of Huizhou ink painting techniques in Qing Dynasty and Republic of China, and their descendants still inherit the essence of Huizhou ink painting techniques in the local area.