Dingyuan Inkstick

Unearthed from the Southern-Tang tomb in Cansang Brick & Tile Factory in Xihu town, suburbs of Yangzhou city in 2001, this firm, heavy, ox-tongue-shaped piece with an inscription featuring tensile, slashing bladework is of the top grade among all inksticks. Broken into three pieces with the two ends missing when it was discovered, this inkstick has a slightly concave upper face, on which there is an inscription of six characters composed of raised strokes in regular script meaning “fine inkstick for Envoy Yuan”. This inscription is surrounded by a single-line oval, at one end of which lies a Chinese character “tun” which is believed to be the logo of the inkstick. On its flat back with a smooth surface there is a square seal of three raised-line characters reading “ding yuan mo” meaning “inkstick of Ding Yuan”. Given the fact that this inkstick was excavated from the Lv Derou Tomb built in 942, the occupant of which was related to the imperial family of the Southern Tang, it is speculated that this inkstick should be one of the tributes offered by Dingyuan to the Imperial Court.