Inkpad making techniques (Zhangzhou Babao inkpad)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: inkpad making techniques (Zhangzhou eight treasures inkpad)

Applicant: Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province

Item No.: 917

Project No.: VIII - 134

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Fujian Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province

Protection unit: Zhangzhou Babao printing clay factory

Brief introduction of printing clay making technique (Zhangzhou eight treasures printing clay)

Applicant: Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province

Inkpad is a kind of coating used for seal. Because the main raw material cinnabar is bright red, it is also called "Danni" and "Yinzhu" in ancient times. Inkpad originated from the seal clay of the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period. At that time, there was no paper, and people used bamboo slips (bamboo board for writing) as writing materials. When delivering official documents, the letters are covered with blank bamboo slips, tied with ropes, and then covered with mud, and then sealed on the mud as a sign of sealing. This mud is also called "seal mud". After the invention of paper, bamboo slips and seal mud were discarded. However, people still imitate the method of sealing mud, stamping seals on announcements, letters, etc., and using printing mud as paint.

Inkpad is mainly made of cinnabar. First, the wormwood leaves are pounded like cotton wool, and then repeatedly stirred with castor oil and cinnabar. The inkpad made in this way has a bright color and will not fade for a long time. In the Southern Dynasty Liang Dynasty (502-557), there are some records about inkpad in Wen Xin Diao Long. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, with the prosperity of calligraphy and painting art, the printing clay production technology continued to progress. To the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the traditional art of painting and calligraphy was widely developed in various places, and the production of inkpad was also greatly improved, and the related production techniques have been passed down to this day.

The eight treasures inkpad produced in Zhangzhou city of Fujian Province was founded in 1673, the 12th year of Kangxi in Qing Dynasty. Wei Chang'an, the founder of Yuanfeng drugstore, originally operated. The cost of Babao ointment made in the drugstore was expensive, and few people asked for money. Wei suhao, a calligrapher and painter, occasionally used ointment to seal his paintings. It was very bright and effective, so he developed "eight treasures printing clay" on the basis of the ointment. This technique abandons the traditional method of applying ink with honey and overcomes the defect that the printing color is easy to fall off. Later, Wei Chang'an set up lihuazhai to specialize in the eight treasures printing clay, and used it as a tribute. The eight treasures printing clay is well-known. After Dr. Sun Yat Sen used Zhangzhou eight treasures inkpad, he also appreciated it.

In 1956, song Yuejiao, the original descendant of lihuazhai, entered Zhangzhou cultural and educational supplies factory (the predecessor of Zhangzhou Babao printing clay factory) with the formula, and developed a new formula, which has continued the production and research of Babao printing clay to this day. Nowadays, the eight treasures inkpad produced in Zhangzhou is made of pearl, agate, gold foil and other precious materials by special processing methods. During the production, a lot of raw materials were put in the porcelain jar to grind, plus the aging sun drying oil, wormwood and so on. After repeated research and complicated manual operation, the eight treasures inkpad was finally made. Its finished product is bright and clean, easy to dry, not falling, not muddy (silting), not sticky and not frozen. It has eight advantages, such as bright saturation, fragrant smell, not melting in water, new color, not drying in dry days, not moldy in rainy days, not oozing oil in summer, not freezing in winter, etc.