The Huiink Stick

The Chinese “solid ink” or ink stick is used to produce ink, when needed; it can also be a work of art.

The way to make Chinese ink is to put a little water on an inkslab and then rub the ink stick on it round and round. When the liquid becomes thick and black enough, it is ready for writing with a brush.

Before the ink stick was developed, graphite was used for writing. When the country became more developed, it was felt during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C – 220 A.D.) that graphite could not meet the growing demand. It was then that ink sticks began to be produced with pine or tung soot. The art was perfected during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when high-quality ink sticks were made of the soot of pine resin, pork lard and vegetable oil.

The best Chinese ink sticks were first made in Shexian Country, Anhui Province, and they are generally called hui sticks because Shexian was named Huizhou in the Song Dynasty.

This type of ink sticks was developed by ink artisan Xi Chao and his son Xi Tinggui of the Tang Dynasty, and then the art spread to the whole prefecture of Huizhou.

Hui ink sticks of the vest quality contain musk, borneol and other precious aromatics normally used in Chinese medicine. These preserve the black colour for a long period of time.

Ordinary ink sticks are sold by the piece, but costly ones are more often than not sold in pairs. They are as a rule decorated with pictures and poems, gilded and coloured by the hand of well-known artists. Arranged in pairs in a satin-finished box, they are too good to be used but are kept by collectors as postage stamps are kept by philatelists.

Accomplished Chinese artists and calligraphers have always attached great importance to the selection of ink sticks. During the Qing Dynasty, a first-rate piece could be literally worth its weight in gold.