Reading about Inkstones was really interesting. The whole process of how they are made and what they are used for is really cool. What I really found interesting was the story of Yellow Hill.
This village was known for it’s reputation of mining stones from Duan Quarries. This village made many cool items such as knife sharpeners and other household items but probably none cooler then their inkstones. The men would mine the rockers or run the retail business to sell these items. The women would make the inkstones and other household items behind the scenes. These stores started in the seventeenth century and some are still running as we speak!
What makes this Duan stone so special? Duan quarry stones are made of mica, clay and silica. These stones also include iron, potassium and magnesium. This gives the stones a purple color. It was said that these stones were formed over 600 million years ago! To make the ink for these stones an artist rubbed an ink cake on the stone. These stones were pretty absorbent. So after rubbing the ink of the stone, you could use it! You have to be careful about you rub it though. Rub it too much or not enough and it will not work.
References
Ko, Dorothy. The Social Life of Inkstones Artisans and Scholars in Early Qing China. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017.
