从“研”到“砚”——古砚形制的确立

文/五花肉

从“研”到“砚”
——古砚形制的确立

fromMilltoInkstone——theEvolutionofTraditionChineseInkstone

文/五花肉

——《砚史》/米芾（宋）

The square inkstones with soft stone have a long duration of ink;send bass when beaten.Inkstones with hard rock sound aloud;shine like a mirror and have relatively short period of ink.In the Wei and Jin Dynasties,people manufactured composite solid ink from carbon so people tended to use inkstones with sunken pools to store the liquid ink.

——《辍耕录》/陶宗仪（明）

“昔黄帝得玉一纽，治为墨海，云其上篆文曰：帝鸿氏之研。”，苏易简的《文房四谱》为我们记载了有关砚的起源传说。作为我国独有的研墨和调色器具，砚因其坚固且千年不朽，而被国人视为“文房四宝”之首。

Long time ago,the Yellow Emperor gained a precious inkstone and engraved characters saying the words" the Yellow Emperor's Inkstone".Su Yijian's work" the Tools of Calligraphy in Study"subscribed the history of traditional Chinese inkstone.As the unique calligraphic tool of Chinese nation,inkstone features eternity and is regarded as the head of the four calligraphic tool in study.

事实上，从砚的诞生到成熟经历了漫长的过程。考古研究显示，从史前至西汉前期，由于天然颜料质地粗糙，需要捣碎研磨，中国古人主要使用由磨盘、块状或棒状研石组成的“研”调制绘写颜料，这便是砚的最初形态。

In fact,inkstone has a long history of evolution.Historically,from prehistoric era to the Western Han Dynasty,ancient Chinese needed to grind the solid nature color with stone mill,which was the origin of inkstone.

到了东汉，由于墨模的发明与胶合墨的使用，墨的硬度大大增强，人们因此能够手持墨块直接在池状研磨槽中研磨，研石也就此淡出历史舞台。随后，砚池从砚堂中分离出来、砚缘出现，则标志着砚的形制得以正式确定，并步入了材质、装饰、样式等品质持续优化的漫漫长途。

In the era of the Eastern Han Dynasty,thanks to the invention of ink module and composite solid ink,the hardness of ink was greatly improved so that people could grind the solid ink with hands.As a result the stone mill died out.After the core,the pool and the edge of the inkstone came into being,the shape and structure of a inkstone were confirmed.The evolution of material,decoration and shape of inkstones was initialized.

当时人们主要选用河卵石、板页岩等石材，以及少数陶、漆木、玉等材质作为制砚原料。尽管选材较随意，但线刻、高浮雕、透雕等雕刻技法的应用，使汉代石砚造型较之粗糙的“研”，更加生动细腻、优美传神，为后世砚的发展开拓了思路。这一时期还出现了圆形、方形、龟形、山形等各类砚式，其中的三足砚更是大大提升了砚的稳定性，同时也开启了魏晋至唐时期多足砚的先声。

At that time,people made inkstone with material including pebbles,plate shale,pottery,jade.In spite of the wide range of raw material,the sophisticated technology of carving was applied,which made inkstone in Han Dynasty exquisite and vivid;and enlightened the development of inkstone.Meanwhile,the inkstone in the shape of round,square,turtle,and mountain came into being.Particularly,the tripodia instone improve the stability and initialized the development of multi-legged inkstone in later generations from the Wei and Jin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty.

可以说，从“研”的萌芽，到“砚”的兴起，古砚形制确立与演进的原动力主要来自于制墨工艺的发展与成熟，而其后千年，国人对于精良笔砚的不懈追求，则使砚最终成为集材质、雕刻、书法、绘画、鉴赏等艺术于一身的实用工艺美术品，创造出中华文明的一大奇观。

From the origin of stone mill to the invention of inkstone,the advancement in manufacturing technology of solid ink boosted the development of traditional Chinese inkstone.The pursuit of premium inkstone makes the Chinese inkstone become an exquisite art work integrated with sculpture,calligraphy,painting, and article appreciation,which is the wonder of Chinese civilization.

（支持单位：上海市质量和标准化研究院）