Jiangzhou Chengni Inkstone is one of the "four famous inkstone in China", which occupies an important position in the history of Chinese inkstone.
Traditional production of Jiangzhou Chengni inkstone can be traced back to the Qin and Han Dynasties. During the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, Chengni inkstone was famous for its "best firing technique in Jiangzhou". Compared with other stone carving inkstone species, the kind of production process of Jiangzhou Chengni inkstone is more complicated. It has taken Jiangzhou Fenhe River mud as its raw materials and applied special roasting technology. Through dozens of extremely complex processes such as mud mining, mud filtering, pressing and filtering with silk bags, ageing the mud, kneading the mud, modelling the mud, drying it in shady area, carving, sand grinding, and then put into the kiln firing, taking it out of the kiln, water milling it, etc. It integrates physics, chemistry, sculpture, painting, characters, calligraphy, seal carving with modeling design into one furnace, which is a comprehensive art category that belongs to the pottery art but higher than the pottery art, and belongs to the inkstone carving but more complex than the inkstone carving. It has features that the quality is hard and smooth. It touches like children’s skin, glittering and translucent and exquisite with rich texture. The stored ink will not be dried up, and it will not be frozen during the winter. It has gentle and moist attribute which do not damage the brush hair. The ancients said that "A spoonful of water on it will not be dried up after plenty of days; A pool of ink will not be dried up in the hot summer". Its excellent quality has unanimously respected by the literati and scholars in all areas, and it was a tribute to the monarch in the past dynasties.
