古墨的制作工艺及保存问题的探讨

采用近代分析方法研究墨坯锤打过程中的物理化学机理，结合古墨的结构形貌分析，对其保存问题进行初步探讨。

A study of the manufacture and conservation of ancient ink-stick

Chinese ink-stick, the basic equipment used in writing has long been known as one of the "four treasures of the scholar's studio". It was often collected by connoisseurs as art object. Ink is generally kept in a solid form which was conducive to long time preservation and also facilitated the development of ink as an artistic medium, since various shapes and designs of the ink-stick were conditioned by the construction and engraving of the mould. Permanence and luster are other important qualities of Chinese ink and these can be still clearly seen in the old documents and paintings that have survived more than one thousand years.It seems likely that ink making formulae and technology procedure were usually kept in secret to guard against competition. In order to improve consistency, colour and aroma, additives were sometimes added, but the main ingredients used in early formulae are nearly the same as in present one. From the time of Han dynasty to Song dynasty, most ink appears to have been made from a combination of pine soot, glue, and micellaneous additives. However, pine soot was rivalled since the Sung dynasty onwards by lamp black. In Ming dynesty the nine-tenths of all ink-sticks were made from pine soot and one-tenth from oil lamp black. However, both pine soot and lamp black consist principally of carbon, which in its free state, does not combine readily with other materials. Consequently, the use of carbon in ink necessitates the addition of glue that will bind the carbon pigment to the writing surface and also helps in holding the carbon particles together in the solid form.In general, the procedure of ink making consist of mixing soot or lamp black with pre-dissolved glue and miscellaneous additives, kneading, pounding, moulding, drying and storing. In the literary report, one important experimentalrule remarked: "A paste was obtained after pounding ten thousand times, or pounding more for better quality".In this paper, with the physico-chemical point to explain the rule, it would be tried to study the mechanism of pounding process by modern analysis method. The mechanism of white spots appearing on the surface of the ink-stick during storage and how to be avoided are also discussed.