Ink - Sumi

Japanese: 墨 - すみ

A black solid that makes the liquid for writing. It is ground with an inkstone. One of the four treasures of the study. The character for ink is a combination of the characters for black and earth, and in ancient China, it was made by mixing powder of naturally occurring graphite with lacquer. The Japanese reading "sumi" is said to be a corruption of "stain" or a corruption of "yubi" from Shaanxi Province, which produced famous ink during the Han dynasty.

[Uemura Kazudo]

Chinese ink (Tang ink)

There are ink inscriptions on Neolithic pottery, oracle bones and pottery fragments from the Yin dynasty excavated by J. Anderson, and ink was also used on wooden tablets and silk, but it is not known what ancient ink was like. It was only during the Han dynasty that carbon powder was solidified with glue as we use today. The Book of Han states, "The Minister of the Secretariat, Mo Ji Lang, was given one large piece of ink and one small piece of ink each month," and the Dong Gu Stories states, "When the Crown Prince first paid homage, he was given four balls of fragrant ink," so it is assumed that solid ink already existed at that time, and was round or slab-shaped. The "Book of Ink" by Chao Yidao of the Song Dynasty states, "Pine soot has been produced for a long time. In the Han period, there were Fufeng and Yinmi, and the pines of Mount Zhongnan were highly valued." From this, we can infer that during the Han dynasty, pine soot ink, made from carbon extracted from the smoke from burning pine, was used along with graphite.

In the late Tang dynasty, the names of ink masters such as Li Chao and Li Tinggui are passed down, and pine soot ink from the Tang dynasty is kept in Japan's Shosoin Repository. From around this time, oil soot ink made from tung oil also began to be produced. Ink production flourished during the Ming dynasty, and many high-quality inks were produced. The quality of ink declined during the Qing dynasty, but it flourished again during the Qianlong period. Representative ink masters of the Qing dynasty include Cheng Junfang, Cao Sugong, and Hu Kaiwen, and from the early Meiji period, large quantities of this ink were imported to Japan, where it was called Tang ink and used by literati of the time.

[Uemura Kazudo]

Japanese ink (washoku)

Ink made in China is called Tang ink, while Japanese ink is called Wa ink. Volume 20 of the Nihon Shoki states, "In the third month of spring in the 18th year of the reign of Empress Suiko, the King of Goryeo presented the monk Doncho as a tribute. Doncho was skilled at making paper and ink," but it is believed that the ink-making technique was actually introduced to Japan before that. The Engishiki, written in the early Heian period, describes the method of making ink using oil soot, and states that one ink maker used four ink makers to produce 400 sticks of ink measuring 5.8 inches (5.1 cm) in length and 8.5 cm (8.5 cm) in width per year. Volume 3 of the Kokin Chomonju contains an article about Emperor Goshirakawa's pilgrimage to Kumano, during which pine soot was presented and used at the Fujishiro Inn in Kishu, but this is considered to be the only document related to Japanese ink.

[Uemura Kazudo]

Types of ink

There are two types of ink: pine soot ink and lamp soot ink. As pine soot has long been used as another name for ink, it has been made in China since ancient times by burning old pine branches or roots and mixing the soot extracted from the smoke with glue. Pine soot ink is pure black when thick, but when diluted it takes on a bluish hue. Ink with a particularly strong blue color is called "seiboku." Pine soot ink particles are slightly coarser than lamp soot ink, and it feels slightly rough on the inkstone. When lightened, ink with clear overlapping lines is considered good. When lightened, it bleeds and the beauty of the ink color increases. Lamp soot ink is made using vegetable oils such as paulownia oil, sesame oil, and rapeseed oil. The ink is black with a hint of brown, which gives it a beautiful color like petroleum floating on water. Good lamp soot ink has a dark purple luster, penetrates paper well, and feels smooth on the inkstone. In this way, pine soot ink is at its richest when made into light ink, while lamp soot ink shows its luster when made into thick ink.

In addition, most mid- to low-grade Japanese and Chinese ink sticks use carbon black, a mineral carbon, which lacks black luster and poor ink color.

[Uemura Kazudo]

Uses and applications of ink

In ancient times, ink was also used on bamboo slips and silk, and with the advent of paper it became an essential tool for calligraphy. Apart from this, ink has also been used to make rubbings since the Tang dynasty.

In Japan, ink is mainly lamp black ink, but in the Heian period, suminagashi (flowing ink) was used to create background patterns on paper for writing kana. This is a method of dropping ink onto the surface of water, then scooping up the ink that spreads out onto the paper and allowing it to settle, aiming for a random and decorative effect. At the beginning of the Showa period, an avant-garde calligraphy style called bokusho emerged, which used very thick and thin ink, bleeding, and other techniques not seen in calligraphy up until that point, to express abstract beauty of form. The monochrome color effects of ink are also attracting attention in art other than calligraphy, such as dyeing and printmaking.

When grinding ink, pour water little by little into the inkstone's ink chamber (where the ink is ground), and collect the ground ink in the ink pool. It is not good to fill the ink pool with water and then pull the ink up. The ink should hit the inkstone surface at a 45-degree angle, gently and gently. If you leave the ground ink standing in the ink chamber, the better the inkstone, the more it will adhere to the ink, and if you try to remove it forcefully it may create a hole. Once you have finished grinding, immediately wipe the wet surface of the ink with paper or cloth. Chinese inkstone in particular can crack if left wet.

[Uemura Kazudo]

[Reference] | Inkstone

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

書写のための液をつくる黒色の固型体。硯(すずり)ですって用いる。文房四宝の一つ。墨という字は黒と土との合字で、中国では昔、天然に産出する石墨(せきぼく)（黒鉛）の粉末に漆(うるし)を混ぜて用いた。和訓の「すみ」は「染み」の転訛(てんか)とも、漢時代に名墨を産した陝西(せんせい)省の隃麋(ゆび)の転訛ともいわれる。

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中国の墨（唐墨）

J・アンダーソンの発掘した新石器時代の土器や殷(いん)代の甲骨、陶片に墨書したものがあり、木簡や帛(はく)にも墨が用いられているが、古代の墨がどのようなものであったかは判明していない。現在のように膠(にかわ)を用いて炭素の粉末を固めたのは漢代になってからである。『漢書(かんじょ)』に「尚書令墨丞郎(ぼくじょうろう)。月に大墨一枚、小墨一枚を賜う」とあり、また『東宮故事』に「皇太子初めて拝するや、香墨四丸を給せらる」とあることから、当時すでに固型の墨があり、丸い形か板状のものであったと推察される。宋(そう)の晁以道(ちょういとう)の『墨経(ぼくけい)』には「松煙の製(せい)や久し。漢に扶風(ふふう)、隃麋。終南山の松を貴ぶ」とあることから推して、漢代では松を燃してその煙からとった炭素を用いた松煙墨(しょうえんぼく)が石墨とともに用いられていたことがわかる。

　晩唐時代には李(り)超、李廷珪(ていけい)といった墨匠の名が伝えられ、わが国の正倉院には唐代の松煙墨が収められている。このころからしだいに、桐油(とうゆ)からとった油煙墨(ゆえんぼく)もつくられ始めた。明(みん)時代は造墨の盛んなときで、上質の墨が多数つくられた。清(しん)朝に入って墨の質は低下したが、乾隆(けんりゅう)年間にはふたたび隆盛期を迎えた。清代の代表的な墨匠に程君房(ていくんぼう)、曹素功(そうそこう)、胡開文(こかいもん)があり、明治初期からわが国にも大量に輸入されて、唐墨とよばれて当時の文人に用いられた。

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日本の墨（和墨）

中国製の墨を唐墨というのに対し、日本の墨を和墨という。『日本書紀』巻20に「推古(すいこ)天皇18年春3月、高麗(こま)王、僧曇徴(どんちょう)を貢上す。曇徴よく紙墨を作る」とあるが、実際にはそれ以前に製墨法が伝来したと思われる。平安初期の『延喜式(えんぎしき)』には油煙による造墨法が記され、造墨長1人が4人の造墨手を使い、長さ五寸幅八分の墨を年間四百挺(ちょう)生産したとある。『古今著聞集(ここんちょもんじゅう)』巻三に後白河(ごしらかわ)法皇熊野詣(もう)でのおりに、紀州藤代(ふじしろ)の宿において松煙が献上され試用された記事がみえるが、これは和墨に関する唯一の文献とされている。

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墨の種類

松煙墨と油煙墨がある。松煙は墨の異名として昔から用いられたように、中国では古くからつくられ、老松の枝または根を燃焼し、その煙からとった煤煙を膠で練る。松煙墨の墨液は濃いときは純黒だが、薄めて淡くすると青みを帯びる。とくに青色の強いものを青墨(せいぼく)とよぶ。松煙墨の粒子は油煙墨よりやや粗く、硯面への当たりはややざらついている。淡墨にした場合、線の重なりぐあいが明瞭(めいりょう)なものを良墨とする。淡墨にすればにじみが出、墨色の美しさを増す。油煙墨は桐油、ごま油、菜種油などの植物性油を用いる。墨液は褐色を含んだ黒色で、すると水に石油を浮かしたような美しい色をたたえる。良質の油煙墨は黒紫色の光沢があり、紙への浸透力がよく、硯面への当たりが滑らかである。このように松煙墨は淡墨にしたときもっともその墨彩が豊かで、油煙墨は濃墨にしたときその光沢を発揮する。

　このほか和墨・唐墨とも中級以下の品には多く鉱物性炭素のカーボンブラックを用いており、黒い輝きはなく、墨色もよくない。

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墨の用途と用法

墨は古代、竹簡や帛にも用いられ、紙の出現によって、書に欠かせない用具となったが、こうした筆記以外では、唐代から拓本をとるのにも用いられている。

　日本の墨は主として油煙墨であるが、平安時代に仮名書きの料紙の地模様に墨流しが使われた。これは、水面に墨滴を垂らして、広がった墨面を紙にすくって定着させる方法で、偶然性とデコラティブな効果をねらったものである。昭和の初めごろに墨象(ぼくしょう)とよばれる前衛書道がおこって、それまでの書にはみられなかった超濃墨や淡墨、にじみなどを利用してアブストラクトな造型美を表現するようになった。また染色や版画など、書以外の美術でも墨のもつモノクロームの色彩効果が注目されている。

　墨をするときは硯の墨堂（墨をするところ）に水滴で少しずつ水を注ぎ、すった墨汁を墨池にためる。墨池に水を入れて、墨で引き上げながらするのはよくない。墨は45度に硯面に当たるようにして軟らかにゆっくりする。墨をすったまま墨堂に立てておくと、よい硯ほど密着して、無理にとると穴があくことがある。すり終わったらただちに紙か布で墨のぬれた面をぬぐう。とくに唐墨はぬれたままにしておくとひび割れが生ずることがある。

［植村和堂］

[参照項目] | 硯

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