What does gold in Four Treasures of the Study mean?

In Four Treasures of the Study, the word "gold is not exchanged" refers to ink.

The ink is called "gold remains unchanged" from the Mohist Scripture: "Use it every day, only half at the age of one, and you won't change 10 thousand gold after using it." So gold is the name of ink, which means good ink does not change.

Before the invention of artificial ink making, natural ink or semi-natural ink was generally used as writing material. Ink was invented about later than pen. Prehistoric painted pottery patterns, Shang and Zhou Oracle Bone Inscriptions, bamboo slips, silk paintings and so on have left traces of original ink everywhere. According to documents, ink was also used in ancient ink punishment (face painting), ink rope (carpenter's use) and ink turtle (divination). Archaeological excavations in China found bones and ink on stone tools in the14th century BC, and ink blocks in the Warring States Period were also unearthed from Yunmeng County, Hubei Province.

The impression of ink seems a little simplistic, but it is an indispensable article in ancient Chinese characters. With the help of this original material, the fantastic artistic conception of China's paintings and calligraphy can be realized. The world of ink is not boring, but rich in connotation. As a consumable, ink can be presented intact today, which is very precious.

Ink type

Song Yanmo 1

In ancient times, when making ink, the ashes of pine trees were used as raw materials, hence the name Song Yanmo. Smoke is a vaporized substance produced by unburned animals and plants. When it freezes, it generates oil smoke, which is divided into pine smoke oil smoke and oil smoke oil smoke.

2. Oil fume ink

Oil smoke ink * * * is divided into four grades: oil smoke 10 1 (five stone lacquer smoke), oil smoke 102 (super tribute smoke), oil smoke 103 (tribute smoke) and oil smoke 104 (top smoke) The raw materials of lampblack are similar, mainly the formulas of precious medicinal materials and spices such as musk and borneol are different. Oil fume 10 1 and 102 are black and shiny, belonging to high-grade inks, of which oil fume 10 1 is the most expensive.