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). After this long course, in the Han Dynasty, artificial ink finally began to appear. This kind of ink raw material is taken from pine smoke, which is first kneaded by hand and then molded, and the ink quality is solid. According to Ying Shao's "Han" in the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Shang Shuling, Servant Shooting, Cheng Lang, give a large amount of ink and a small amount of ink every month." Bai Weiling is located in Qianyang County, Shaanxi Province, near Zhong Nanshan Mountain. There are many pine trees on the right side of the mountain, which are very famous for the tobacco used to make ink.
From the production to the final product, there are many processes such as glue injection, blending, steaming and baking, and there is also a molding process. Ink carving is an important process and also an artistic creation process. The shapes of ink are generally square, rectangular, round, oval and irregular. Ink mold is generally composed of front, back, top, bottom, left and right six pieces, while circular or idol-shaped ink mold can be synthesized only by four or two pieces. Built-in ink, close the hammer and smash the finished product. Most of the nib is engraved on the side, so that the ink mold can be easily replaced when it is reused. There are many forms of ink, which can be divided into natural ink, lacquer ink, gold ink and lacquer ink.
Chinese painting is also very particular about using ink. There are two kinds of ink: "oil smoke" and "pine smoke". Oil smoke ink is made of tung oil or burning smoke. Song Yanmo is made of burning pine branches. Oil smoke ink is characterized by black and bright color; loose ink is characterized by deep and dull color. Chinese painting generally uses lampblack, only color painting occasionally uses pine smoke. But in the performance of some plain things such as butterflies, black velvet and so on. It is also best to use pine smoke. Chinese painting ink generally uses ink ingots. When we choose Mo Ding, we should look at its ink color. It is best to see that the ink is blue and purple, followed by black, and the worst is red, yellow or white. The method of grinding ink is to grind it evenly and slowly with clear water until the ink is thick. The ink should be freshly ground. Ink that has been ground for too long is called Su Mo, which is generally unavailable in Su Mo. However, there are only a few painters who like to paint with Su Mo.
We now have various inks for painting and calligraphy, such as China Ink, Yidege and Cao Sugong, which can be used instead of ink.