Chinese Calligraphy- Zero to Hero! Guide 3. - S1E3 The ink,paper and inkstone

One brush, one inkstone, unlocking 5,000 years of civilization. Welcome to Chinese Calligraphy, Zero to Hero, Chinese Calligraphy for Beginners. Hi everyone. Last time we covered the brush, one of the four treasures of the calligraphy study. In this episode, we'll be diving into the other three. The Ink, Paper, and the Inkstone. Section 1. The Ink. Ancient Chinese ink wasn't a liquid you could just pour out. Originally, it was made from natural graphite or powdered soot, which wasn't easy to turn into usable ink. It wasn't until the Qin and Han dynasties that ink-making techniques really took off. That's when artisans mastered creating solid ink sticks, like pinesoot ink and olsoot ink. Why solid? Well, solid ink sticks were revolutionary for a few key reasons. Longevity and transport. They don't evaporate, spoil easily, or leak. This made them perfect for long-term storage and traveling long distances, super important back then. Control and quality. When you grind the ink stick with water on an inkstone, you control the consistency. Want it thick and dark, or light and watery, you decide. This grinding process also ensures the ink and water blend perfectly, giving you smooth, even, and controllable shades of black, essential for the fine details in calligraphy and painting. Forget fancy watches or designer bags. In ancient China, the ultimate luxury was high-quality ink. It was so precious, people said one gram of ink was worth one gram of gold. Huey Mo or Anhui ink is the name synonymous with the finest ink sticks. Hailing from Anhui province, a protected origin like Champagne in France, this isn't just ink, it's an art form. Why is Huey Mo legendary? Flawless performance. It glides onto paper like lacquer deep, lustrous black that never fades. Ink and brush never stick. Sensory experience, richly fragrant with a satin-like texture. The perfect craft, praised for being lightweight, smooth grinding, fragrant, hard as jade, silent on the inkstone, producing intense lacquer black strokes and preserving writings for eternity. How China's most luxurious ink is made by hand. Let's take a look at its production process together. You'll understand why it is so precious. Step one, capture the smoke. See those dancing flames? Workers burn pine wood here. Only the finest Qingyan clear smoke from the tail is used, it's like catching angel tears. Or they use oil lamps in pitch-black rooms. Fun fact, three days equals one ink stick soot. That's why nobles called it liquid gold. Step two, beat it like dough. Watch him pound 200 times non-stop. This black dough contains secret ingredients. Deer musk to repel bugs, gold flakes for shine, even pearl powder because emperors wanted bling-bling ink. Step three, shape it into arts. This mold is hand-carved with poems and landscapes. Each mold dies after 500 presses. Talk about exclusive art. Step four, the aging waits. Now comes patience. Tiny 50G sticks dry for six months, turned weekly so they cure evenly. Big bars over a year. Why so slow? Rush it equals cracks. Perfection can't be microwaved. Step five, paint with gold. Grandpa's brush is thinner than your eyelash. He traces patterns with real gold dust. It seals and makes it museum-worthy. This step is so precise, apprentices train 10 years just to steady their hands. From a million pounds of pounding to one-click ink. Now we have the modern inks. Pop the cap, bam, instant calligraphy master. Modern calligraphy inks deliver instant convenience, eco-smarts, and artistic superpowers, preserving tradition at the speed of modern life. Think of modern ink as instant coffee, quick and practical. But to calligraphy masters, that ancient handcrafted ink stick is like artisanal craft coffee. Irreplaceable, ritualistic, and worth the wait. Section two, the paper. The paper that drinks ink like fine wine. Meet Chuan paper, China's 1,500-year-old secret weapon for turning ink into living art. Want to know why it's more expensive than your smartphone? Let's dive in. Why calligraphers obsess over Chuan paper. Magic trick one, the five shades of ink effect. Unlike regular paper that soaks ink like a sponge, Chuan paper's hand-woven fibers guide ink to dance, creating watery washes, sharp lines, and silky gradients all in one stroke. Magic trick two, time travel durability. Buried in caves for centuries. No problem. Its alkaline-resistant fibers laugh at mold, insects, and decay. Your great-great-grandkids will read your letters. This is a genuine ancient cursive script unearthed from Dunhuang, dating back a thousand years. It has caused a sensation throughout the entire calligraphy community. Magic trick three, silent MVP of art conservation. Museums use it to repair masterpieces because it's acid-free and reversible. The superhero cape of art preservation. Even masterpieces shattered for 1,000 years can be resurrected on Chuan paper. That's the magic of immortality. Crafting wizardry how it's made. Step one, harvesting paper gold. Secret sauce. Mix Totter Winklety's Bark Rockstar Fiber plus Sand Rice Straw Soft Filler, grown only in Anhui's mineral-rich rivers. Step two, the 108 trials of fiber. Gravdglash. Ancient Wei. Handbeat pulp 3,600 times, right arrow fibers split like angel. Modern Wei machines mimic beading. Step three, dancing with bamboo screens. One master right arrow, one sheet right arrow, three seconds flat. Mess up, the whole batch sinks. Step four, firewall finish. This isn't seasoning, it's alchemy. Too much fire equals crispy toast. Too little equals mold buffet. Chuan paper is China's traditional paper for calligraphy and painting. It comes in three types, raw Sheng, ripe Shu, and half-ripe Ban, each with unique crafting techniques and properties to serve different artistic needs. For beginners, half-ripe Chuan is perfect for daily calligraphy practice. Just by dripping a drop of water on the paper, you can determine what type of paper it is. On the left is Sheng Chuan. Sheng Chuan is the ink vampire. It swallows water droplets in an instant. Best for splash ink landscapes. In the middle is Shu Chuan. It is like a waterproof field. Water droplets dance for five minutes without getting tired. Best for palace-style details. On the right is Ban Chuan. Caution, it takes a long time to faint. It's enough to rescue your crashed works. So it is very suitable for the beginners. And also the price is affordable. Perfect for daily practice. Section three, the ink stone. No, it's not a fancy soap dish. This is an ink stone, the command center of Chinese calligraphy. Forget ink bottles, real masters wake up ink with this magic stone. Four legendary ink stones ruled China's ink empire for thousands years. One, Duan ink stone, the gold standard, origin only in Xiaoqing, Guangdong province. Secret sauce, stone eyes, crystallized mineral spots that predict ink flow. History cred gifted to emperor since 618 AD. UNESCO intangible heritage. Two, Zhi ink stone, the workhorse. Signature look, gold star patterns, metallic flex glitter when grinding. Artist hack, perfect for calligraphy marathons. Ink won't dry for 10 plus days. Three, Tao ink stone, the myth. Drama fact, mined by divers in freezing rivers. One block equals three years salary in Song dynasty money bag. Modern cameo given to world leaders. Four, Chengni ink stone, the rebel. Science flex, hand sifted river mud plus fire equals stone toughness without rock. Color magic turns pink in humidity, nature's mood ring. Chengni ink stone, as the only clay based among the four famous Chinese ink stones, has a complex firing process and an extremely low yield of finished products. Traditional wood fired firing technique. Approximately 30% this figure has been achieved after over 20 years of technological optimization, with the yield of high quality products being less than 8%. Now that you've learned about the four treasures of the study in Chinese calligraphy, we can start practicing at next episode. Are you excited? This series starts with the absolute fundamentals. Everything you need to begin your Chinese calligraphy journey the right way. Why not hit subscribe so you never miss a lesson. Finally, let's experience the wonderful sound of grinding.