学进去

In ancient China, there were“four treasures of the study”—the writing brush, ink, paper, and the inkstone (砚台). Among all the inkstones, the Chengni inkstone was one of the most famous and was widely loved.

The Chengni inkstone first appeared during the Western Han Dynasty, but the skills of making it were lost during the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty. Thankfully, today the traditional skills have been revived with the help of Lin Yongmao and his son Lin Tao.

In 1984, Lin Yongmao began working at the museum in Xinjiang, Shanxi Province. There he read some books about the Xinjiang Chengni inkstone, and then decided to revive the lost skills.

It was easier said than done. It took the father and son two years to find proper materials to produce the Chengni inkstone. That was just the first step. After failing many times, they finally succeeded in making two Chengni inkstones in 1991. Three years later, their Chengni inkstones won a gold prize at an expo (博览会) on China’s famous inkstones.

But the father and son did not stop there. While improving the skills of making the Chengni inkstone, they set up a workshop in the hope of passing the skills on to young people. They also worked with universities and colleges to make the Chengni inkstone more popular. At the same time, Lin Tao has created special Chengni inkstone products and brought them to competitions at home and abroad to increase the influence of the Chengni inkstone.