How does Yishui inkstone distinguish between good and bad?

The key to identifying a good inkstone: From a practical point of view, if you want to choose a good inkstone and ink, there are three key points for reference.

(1) Blow into the ink hall with your mouth or press the ink hall with your fingers: As we all know, a good ink stone must have the characteristic of "storing water without drying". If it is difficult to store water, its water absorption must be very low. If you press it with your mouth or fingers, the inkstone will produce fog. If the fog disappears for a long time, it proves that this inkstone has good water retention, and vice versa.

(2) Fingernail grinding inkstone hall: A good inkstone must have a sharp edge. Rubbing the surface of the inkstone vertically with fingernails will produce more or less white powder or residual white scratches, which is the sharp edge. Only an inkstone with sharp edges is a good inkstone.

(3) Rub the inkstone surface with water: When the inkstone is dry, rubbing the inkstone surface with your fingers will feel smooth because of its sharp edge, but when you use a water mill, you will obviously feel prickly. An inkstone with this feature is a good inkstone.

(4) Look: Look at the quality, workmanship, taste, inscription, decoration, old and new, whether it is repaired, etc. If the inkstone has been repaired, the color of the repaired place will always be different from the original color of the inkstone.

(5) Touch: When you get the inkstone, you can touch it by hand. If it feels as smooth and delicate as a child's skin, it means that the stone is better; If it feels rough, it means that its stone quality is poor.

(6) Knock: Hold the inkstone with five fingers empty, tap lightly, or play the inkstone with your fingers and listen to its sound. If it is the inkstone, the sound of wood is the best, followed by the sound of tile, followed by the sound of gold. These three different voices respectively reflect Duan's gentleness and age. The crisp metallic sound of "clang, clang" when striking the inkstone is the best. If the sound is "poof, poof", it means that the stone is muddy or has dark scars, which is inferior.

(7) Washing: It is best to wash the inkstone, especially in Gu Yan, because the surface of the inkstone is covered with ink marks, which blurs the natural beauty of the inkstone and can't tell the age of the pit. So wash the ink marks on the inkstone to see if there are any scars and repaired marks. (

8) Weighing: Weigh the inkstone by hand. Generally speaking, inkstones of the same size have tight cementation and fine particles; Light cementation is loose. The weighing method is especially suitable for she inkstone.

(10) Sculpture: The first consideration is the quality of a stone. If you are familiar with the inkstone, you will immediately feel the advantages and disadvantages of the inkstone as long as you gently carve a few lines on it.