The ink fragrance has lasted for thousands of years, painting a magnificent scroll of Chinese culture
"China's Ink History is Long"
In the long history of China, ink, with its unique artistic charm and profound cultural accumulation, shines brightly and has become an indispensable treasure and bridge for inheriting and promoting Chinese civilization. From the mysterious totems drawn by the ancient ancestors with simple carbon black on the vast rock walls and deep caves to today's literati and scholars' free and easy brushstrokes on the delicate rice paper, the ink varies infinitely in shade, density, dryness, and wetness. The black of Chinese ink is like the flowing blood in Chinese civilization, nourishing the spiritual home of countless Chinese descendants.
"The Origin of Chinese Ink is Ancient and Mysterious"
The origin of Chinese ink is ancient and mysterious, which can be traced back to the ancient times. It can be known from the pottery of the most primitive society that at that time, people had not mastered the complex writing system but already knew how to use the black substances in nature for simple decoration and record, opening the precedent for artistic creation using ink. The real artificial ink-making began in the period of King Xuan of Zhou, when Xing Yi made ink with coal smoke and was honored as the "ancestor of ink-making" by later generations. This pioneering act marked the official birth of the ink-making technique.
"The Development History of Ink in Different Dynasties"
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, although ink was widely used in writing, the ink-making process was not yet mature at that time. The early ink blocks were not molded into ingots and had relatively poor hardness and density, so they could not be ground directly by hand. They had to be placed in the inkstone, and water was added to crush them into juice with a grinding stone before use. It was not until the Eastern Han Dynasty that the appearance of ink molds was like a divine stroke. It not only made the style of ink regular but also greatly improved the production quality and usability of ink, promoting the unprecedented prosperity of the writing culture. However, due to the relatively high production cost of ink molds at that time, in the Eastern Han Dynasty and even for a period after that, the hand-kneaded ink pills produced by the traditional production method still occupied the mainstream position. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the ink mold-making technique gradually matured and became popular. The selection of raw materials for ink was also more refined and meticulous. Various accessories and additives were added during the ink-making process. Ink-making craftsmen began to choose high-quality raw materials such as pine smoke, tung oil, and lacquer smoke. The color and luster of ink were greatly improved, and the quality was even better.
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During the continuous evolution of ink-making techniques in various dynasties, the ink in the Tang Dynasty ushered in its golden age, breaking the earlier pattern where the north dominated alone. The ink-making industry began to spread throughout the north and the south, and many famous ink-makers emerged. Moreover, thanks to the superior ink presented by Korea to the Tang Dynasty, the ink-makers of the Tang Dynasty continuously improved and experimented on this basis to optimize the process. Ink molds completely replaced manual pounding, and ink products were diverse in shape, solid and durable, and full of artistic beauty. Colored ink also appeared in the Tang Dynasty, with yellow ink and vermilion ink being the most famous. They were colorful and breathtaking. The ink-makers of the Tang Dynasty also ingeniously incorporated precious medicinal materials such as cinnabar, orchid musk, medicine, borneol, or musk into the ink to enhance the ink color and give off a pleasant fragrance, becoming an indispensable elegant item on the desks of literati and scholars at that time.
In the Song Dynasty, ink-making reached the peak of ink-making history. Facing the increasingly depleted pine forest resources, oil smoke ink emerged, opening a new era in ink-making in China. Shen Kuo recorded in "Mengxi Bitan" his process of trying to make ink with petroleum smoke coal and said, "Petroleum is abundant and is infinitely produced underground, unlike pine wood which sometimes runs out." Although oil smoke ink was good, its output was not high at that time. On the one hand, its production process was still a secret. On the other hand, the production cost was too high. According to historical records, members of the imperial family and noble families such as Emperor Huizong Zhao Ji, Lu You, and Huang Tingjian, as well as literati and scholars, all participated in the ranks of ink-making and ink-tasting. Zhao Ji once used burnt Suhe oil to obtain oil smoke ink. Due to the expensive ingredients and unique production methods, it was difficult for others to imitate.
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the production of oil smoke ink gradually became popular, and the selection of raw materials was also more refined. High-quality vegetable oils such as tung oil and rapeseed oil were widely used to refine oil smoke. These oils were pure, and the soot produced after burning was fine, which was the key to making high-quality oil smoke ink. In the decoration of ink, ink-makers skillfully integrated pattern elements such as poems, songs, prose, landscapes, flowers, and birds into it using various techniques such as engraving and painting, making ink blocks not only a writing tool but also a exquisite work of art.
"The Modern Technological Development of Ink"
"Ink", as an important element in traditional Chinese culture, has a long history. Nowadays, this cultural treasure has long evolved from the initial simple painting and writing tool into a diversified product integrating art, technology, and culture. With the advancement of modern technology and changes in market demand, the market classification of "ink" has indeed become increasingly refined, and its application fields have been greatly expanded, showing new vitality in multiple fields such as textile printing, advertisement inkjet printing, handicraft production, etc., injecting new vitality into the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese culture.
Fujian Obooc New Material Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2007. It is a national high-tech enterprise that has long been committed to the research and development, production, and sales of new inks. As a domestic ink brand, it has adhered to the corporate philosophy of "continuous improvement and innovative development" for many years and has become a leading ink manufacturer in China in terms of technical level. Currently, it has independently developed over 3,000 kinds of various high-end colored ink products and has been exported to many countries and regions such as Europe, North America, South America, and Southeast Asia. Aobozi mainly deals in ink products such as inkjet printer ink, pen ink, industrial dyeing ink, and special functional ink. Its ink quality system is stable. The printed products are colorful, with fine and clear imaging, fine particles, no clogging of the nozzles, and are environmentally friendly, non-toxic, wear-resistant, and sun-resistant. They can be widely used in indoor and outdoor places at various temperatures and can meet the needs of different scenarios such as writing, painting, and printing and dyeing. Looking forward to the future, Obooc will uphold the spirit of innovation that keeps pace with the times, strive for new heights with more excellent quality, take the inheritance and development of domestic ink culture as its responsibility, and leave a brilliant mark in the history of domestic ink!
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