With the needs of the times, ornamental ink (i.e. curios) and gift ink appeared. Ink has always been loved and collected by literati, calligraphers and painters. Since the Song Dynasty, famous ink has gradually become a display and appreciation item on literati's desks. It requires excellent ink quality and pursues beautiful form and decoration. This has prompted ink to form a category of arts and crafts and become a work of art treasured by people. Su Dongpo, the great poet of the Song Dynasty, had a poem that said, "If you dare not use ink, you will enter the Penglai Palace." This is a reflection of this trend. This style of appreciation of ink became even more popular during the Jiajing and Wanli periods, and sets of ink began to appear. The decorative patterns of ink were ever-changing, reaching the point where they are innumerable. This kind of Cong Mo pays attention to the variety of forms, novel and colorful patterns and decorations, and also pays attention to external decoration. Black lacquered gold boxes are often used for storage, and boxes made of golden nanmu or ebony are also used. The boxes are exquisite in shape, safe and convenient to store and carry. There are also hand-rolled boxes made of wood and decorated with brocade. One side is connected with small calligraphy and painting, which is similar to a calligraphy and painting scroll, very unique.
Appreciation of ink: For example, the "Qianlong Imperial Ode to Ten Scenes of the West Lake and Ten Colored Ink" collected by the Forbidden City has different colors and rich ink forms. On one side is a seven-character rhymed poem of Emperor Qianlong's ode to the Ten Scenes of the West Lake in regular script filled with gold. On the other side is a picture of the Ten Scenes of the West Lake sung in the poem. The following are "Lotus in the Wind in Quyuan", "Viewing Fish in Huagang", "Spring Dawn on Su Causeway", "Remaining Snow on Broken Bridge", "Moon Reflected in Three Ponds", "Clouds on Twin Peaks", "Singing Orioles in the Willow Waves", "Evening Bell of Nanping", etc. . The composition of the picture depicts the basic characteristics of the square title in a very concise way, artistically reproduces the beautiful scenery of West Lake in Hangzhou, and vividly reflects the historical appearance of the ten sceneries of West Lake more than 200 years ago. It is a better appreciation of ink.
This set of inks is colored ink, which is a pigment used for painting. It comes in red, yellow, cyan, green, blue, brown, white and other colors. Most of them are prepared from natural pigments. The colors are pure and gorgeous, and they are not easy to fade. . Although colored ink was rare in the early period, the exquisiteness and gorgeousness of the pigments can be seen in the paintings of the Tang and Song Dynasties. The "Golden Landscape Painting" of the Tang Dynasty mainly uses green and green colors, with gold occasionally used to depict beautiful and green mountains and rivers, majestic palaces and pavilions, showing a glorious and magnificent natural scene, highlighting the beauty of colors. "Han Xizai's Night Banquet" created by Gu Hongzhong, a famous painter of the Five Dynasties, is divided into five sections. The nightlife of Han Xizai, the prime minister of the Southern Tang Dynasty, is vividly depicted with the artistic technique of thick brushwork and vivid colors. "Listening to the Qin" by Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, has soft and gorgeous colors, vivid characters, and the beauty of colors. These colors on paper and silk have gone through eight, nine hundred, or even thousands of years of history, and still maintain their dazzling brilliance, which fully demonstrates that these colored inks are well made and are excellent products for ancient appreciation.
Identification of the authenticity of cultural relics is the prerequisite for scientific research and display research on cultural relics. Without identification of authenticity, there can be no identification. Therefore, identification and appraisal are the first tasks for cultural relic workers. The purpose of our identification is to provide people with reference evidence for studying authentic and reliable objects. The same goes for when we identify ink. We need to see more of the real objects, remember more of the real objects, verify each other with the real objects and documentary materials, think after seeing them, be good at comparative analysis, and be good at finding problems. Looking more at the real objects can help us to understand the ink quality and quality of a famous work. The understanding of the title, pattern, ink quality, and style will become more profound and familiar. In addition, he constantly enriches his knowledge, studies more literature, and learns to distinguish the characteristics of the ink products and styles of the Shexian and Xiuning schools. Through the understanding of the ink products, he can identify the ink even if there is no year mark. What famous calligraphy works. For example: the "Farming and Weaving Picture" ink produced in the 35th year of Kangxi's reign, and the "Cotton Picture" produced in the 30th year of Qianlong's reign. Regardless of whether they are imitated or modified, we can conclude that there was no "Farming and Weaving Picture" ink before the 35th year of Kangxi's reign. Thirty years ago, there were no "cotton picture" ink products. In the future, the counterfeit may be an old model and a new one, making it easier to identify the authenticity. You can also refer to the grades and prices of famous ink paintings from the Qing Dynasty.
In addition, to avoid the impact of taboos on Mexico, in feudal society, there were national taboos and family taboos. The national taboo is to avoid the names of the emperor and Confucius; the family taboo is to avoid the names of one's ancestors. The method of avoiding taboos is to change the original pronunciation when you encounter taboo names that should be avoided when writing, or if the pen is missing or the characters are changed. "Taboo" has a certain impact on the identification of cultural relics. For example, "taboo" is particularly important for the identification of ink from the Ming and Qing dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, the word "Xuan", "Xuan Yuan Ling Qi", "Nine Xuan Three Extremes", etc. In the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi's name was Xuan Ye, so the word "Xuan" was taboo. Some of them were rewritten as Yuan, or a stroke was missing. All the ink with the word "Xuan" in the Ming and Qing dynasties must be pre-Kangxi works if they are not forgeries. . For example, if "Xuan" is rewritten as "Yuan" or one word is missing, it should be written after Kangxi. And because the ink products with the word "Xuan" brought a lot of bad luck to Ming Dynasty ink. After the Ming Dynasty's "Xuan" ink came to Kangxi, the "Xuan" character was dug out or the ink was destroyed. In short, "Xuan" brought bad luck to the Ming Dynasty's inheritance, and its losses are immeasurable, but it also played a role in dividing eras in terms of identification.
Because the calligraphy and painting styles of the Ming and Qing dynasties were influenced by various schools, their styles were different; due to the different styles of calligraphy and painting, their ink mold carving techniques and techniques were obviously different from the times. The calligraphy of the Ming Dynasty was very powerful. In order to express the powerfulness, the carving techniques and the knife skills needed to be profound to show the strong fonts, the sharp edges of the yang characters, and the sharp angles. The calligraphy of the Qing Dynasty was rich in elegance, and carving techniques required mastering exquisite and smooth knife skills to express softness and elegance.
Painting and calligraphy are completely consistent. Therefore, the techniques of engraving ink models in the Ming and Qing Dynasties formed two major schools based on the different styles of calligraphy and painting in the Ming and Qing dynasties: Ming Dynasty ink models, whose knife skills were deep and powerful; The knife skills are very delicate and delicate. The reason why they are different is actually due to the different styles of calligraphy and painting. In this way, we can grasp the connotation of identifying famous ink of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, most people in the Ming and Qing dynasties did not engrave the year mark on the mold to replace the ink mold, but immediately engraved it on the side, so that the ink surface would not be affected when replacing it.
When it comes to verifying the age of ink, it can only be solved by homemade ink. The literati and officials asked the Mohists to make ink at no cost at all. Commemorative ink products should be signed with the year of the zodiac. This is for us. It is convenient to verify the age.
In addition, identify ink products from the ink mold. The long use of the ink mold affects the clarity of the ink surface. When the first edition is first engraved, the patterns, calligraphy, paintings, and seals are particularly clear and pleasing to the eye; on the contrary, the ink mold has been used for a long time. The ink surface appears blurry, and it may be a copy, but the date is slightly later, so the ink model can reflect the size of the Mohist family's business and the rise and fall of its operations.
The lacquer coat of Mopin is scraped and rubbed in Mobu. The ink can also be identified through the lacquer coat. The ink on the lacquer coat is older, the patent leather looks thicker, and has snakeskin broken lines, similar to the guqin. The broken lines are not cracks, and the lines are not cracked. They are hidden between the patent leather, and they are the same as the opening of ancient porcelain. The lacquer leather ink flourished during the Wanli period, while the Kangxi ink in the Qing Dynasty was rare. After the late Qianlong period, the lacquer coat ink was more than beautiful in luster, but not thick and simple. The painted edges on the ink can also be regarded as the fashion of different eras, helping us to identify the era. In the Ming Dynasty, the top, bottom, left and right sides of Dacong lacquer were lacquered, and the front and back were natural colors. In the Qing Dynasty, the edges on both sides were often painted, and the top and bottom sides were left unpainted.
How to identify counterfeit products: If the material is rough, almost not smoke material, and looks like a clod of soil, if you knock it with your hands, the sound will be hoarse, the body will be light and grayish white, the ink mold will be rough, and the ink will be poor. These are the Characteristics of counterfeit goods. There is also a kind of counterfeit product that uses a kind of carbon crystal, a kind of fake ink ground from a stone material.
How to identify imitations? The Mohists of the Qing Dynasty imitated the Mohists of the Ming Dynasty. One type only marked the year's inscription and did not sign the Mohist's name. The other kind only marks a certain Mohist who imitated a certain Mohist in the Ming Dynasty. This type has the imitator's own famous model and the imitated model's famous model. It is to promote oneself rather than to deceive others. Therefore, some people use high-quality products made in the early Qing Dynasty to The original name ink was dug out, then filled with ink wax, and the name seal and year were engraved on the ink wax, and slightly gold was applied and polished. Such imitations are difficult to identify.
There are many kinds of ink. Practical natural ink is not only large in quantity, but also in roughly the same shape. We can identify whether there are words and patterns (i.e. the name of the ink) engraved on both sides of the ink. Whether there is the name of the supervisory unit on the left and right sides. There are also those with the age engraved on the side, and the top of the ink is engraved with the words "super lacquer smoke", "lacquer smoke", "top smoke", and "tung oil smoke", indicating that the ink ingot belongs to the category of oil smoke ink; "Huangshan Pine Smoke" is engraved on it. , "large roll of pine smoke", "pine smoke" and other words indicate that the ink belongs to the category of pine smoke; engraved with the words "whole smoke", "fine smoke", "clean smoke" and other words, the ink belongs to the category of carbon black ink .
In short, collectors are required to have considerable knowledge and experience. First of all, it is required to be generally familiar with the development and evolution history of the origin of ancient ink, to know the main producing areas of ancient famous ink and the surnames and names of famous ink makers, and to have a certain understanding of the famous ink patterns of famous ink.
In addition, in terms of texture, there are obvious differences between new ink and old ink. The new ink is grayish, although it is thick and not bright, while the old ink is pure black and bright, with a pure black color and a thick color feel. Due to the uneven mixing of glue and glue of new ink, the ink color appears to be uneven in color and thickness. Due to the strict production method and long storage time of old ink, the glue of old ink is naturally even and even, and the black color is smooth and does not stick to the pen. The smell of new ink is dry, while old ink has its own simple and faint fragrance, and shows a simple color.