As a young child I used to watch my father cook and help my mother bake. This explains why I find cooking relaxing after a long day working at the computer. As the primary evening cook in my household, I decided to purchase some iron cookware pans. I was used to them from my childhood.…
Read MoreThere are two ingredients that we will apply on our suzuri (硯, inkstone) in order to prepare the ink. One is water and the other is ink. Water should be fresh, not boiled, although bottled mineral water is also recommended. Fresh water from a tap is the most convenient, obviously. Ink should be of the…
Read MoreThe most important feature of any inkstone is its grinding surface quality. It needs to be suitable for preparing uniformly thick ink. The finer the ink quality the more pleasant the writing will be. However, this is not the only factor that will help us to decide. First of all, we choose the inkstone by…
Read MoreInkstones are much more than just practical items for ink grinding. There are two main types; one for everyday use and another for decorative or collecting purposes. In ancient China beautifully carved and inscribed inkstones made by famous artists were often presented as tribute or gift from one ruler to another. Some historical inkstones can…
Read MoreThe inkstone (硯, suzuri, also sometimes referred to as “ink slab”) is one of the four treasures of a calligrapher’s studio (aside from brush paper and ink), although it is used in ink painting as well. Its history goes back to the New Stone Age era, 5000 to 6000 years ago, when various pigments were…
Read MoreThere are many tools that calligraphers use (penholders, brush pots, ink boxes, desk mats, paperweights, seals and seal boxes, raw materials, etc). However, four of them are essential to this art, not only because of their necessity, but also due to their symbolic meaning. They are called “four treasures of the study” (文房四宝, bunbou shihou).…
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