Venus Ink Stone

2015-12-29  Source: cultural-china

Venus ink stone

The Venus ink stone 金星砚, which is made from Venus stone 金星石, is mainly made in Xingzi County, Jiangxi Province. It is said the first Venus ink stone was created by Tao Yuanming 陶渊明 of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420) and Song Dynasty (420-479). The Xingzi ink stone of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was declined but then became prosperous during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). There were hundreds of ink stone workshops in Xing Zi County during the Republic of China (PRC) period (1912-1949), and the Venus ink stone at that time received prizes from two international exhibitions.

After the founding of PRC, two professional ink stone factories established and highly developed the Venus ink stone. From 1980 to 1990, te Venus ink stone was frequently shown in national exhibitions and spread to Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe and the U.S.

The Venus ink stone is made from Song stone produced in Xingzi County, which is rare but valuable, strong but fine. The traditional shape and pattern of the Venus ink stone are full of regional flavor because they come from local legend.

However, the development of the Venus ink stone is facing a huge challenge because of excessive exploitation of the Venus stone and the decline in the numbers of skilled professionals. The practice needs urgent support and protection.