從“研”到“硯”
——古硯形制的確立

文/五花肉

從“研”到“硯”
——古硯形制的確立

fromMilltoInkstone——theEvolutionofTraditionChineseInkstone

文/五花肉

——《硯史》/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.

——《輟耕錄》/陶宗儀（明）

“昔黃帝得玉一紐，治為墨海，云其上篆文曰：帝鴻氏之研。”，蘇易簡的《文房四譜》為我們記載了有關硯的起源傳說。作為我國獨有的研墨和調色器具，硯因其堅固且千年不朽，而被國人視為“文房四寶”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.

事實上，從硯的誕生到成熟經歷了漫長的過程。考古研究顯示，從史前至西漢前期，由于天然顏料質地粗糙，需要搗碎研磨，中國古人主要使用由磨盤、塊狀或棒狀研石組成的“研”調制繪寫顏料，這便是硯的最初形態。

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.

到了東漢，由于墨模的發明與膠合墨的使用，墨的硬度大大增強，人們因此能夠手持墨塊直接在池狀研磨槽中研磨，研石也就此淡出歷史舞臺。隨后，硯池從硯堂中分離出來、硯緣出現，則標志著硯的形制得以正式確定，并步入了材質、裝飾、樣式等品質持續優化的漫漫長途。

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.

當時人們主要選用河卵石、板頁巖等石材，以及少數陶、漆木、玉等材質作為制硯原料。盡管選材較隨意，但線刻、高浮雕、透雕等雕刻技法的應用，使漢代石硯造型較之粗糙的“研”，更加生動細膩、優美傳神，為后世硯的發展開拓了思路。這一時期還出現了圓形、方形、龜形、山形等各類硯式，其中的三足硯更是大大提升了硯的穩定性，同時也開啟了魏晉至唐時期多足硯的先聲。

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.

可以說，從“研”的萌芽，到“硯”的興起，古硯形制確立與演進的原動力主要來自于制墨工藝的發展與成熟，而其后千年，國人對于精良筆硯的不懈追求，則使硯最終成為集材質、雕刻、書法、繪畫、鑒賞等藝術于一身的實用工藝美術品，創造出中華文明的一大奇觀。

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.

（支持單位：上海市質量和標準化研究院）