"Duanshi was not mined again until the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, because there were fewer and fewer duanshi in old pits, and the pits were often closed after a few or more than ten years of mining.

"This square Duan inkstone is of excellent quality. It looks like Duanxi Laokeng stone at first glance, and it is an extremely rare Black Duan inkstone.

"Heiduan is described in detail in the ancient book "Dongtian Qinglu". There is an old pit under the Duan River. The pebbles are as black as lacquer and as fine and smooth as jade. There is no sound when knocking and grinding ink.

"There are eyes, and there is halo in the eyes, or six or seven are connected, or the shape of stars is arranged.

"The stone is at the bottom of the water. You have to drain the water from a thousand weirs to a depth of several feet, lower it under a bonfire, and enter the cave to get it."

"It can be seen that the black-duan inkstone is definitely the best among inkstones. When I was an appraiser at Baoyuxuan, I saw a similar black inkstone in the store. The masters in the store unanimously identified it as the Duan-duan inkstone in the early Ming Dynasty."

"One more thing, there is a Tai Chi diagram on this inkstone, although both the Song and Ming dynasties liked Taoism.

"However, people in the Song Dynasty had different aesthetics from those in the Ming Dynasty. People in the Song Dynasty did not like fancy things, and most of their inkstones were plain inkstones.

"People in the Song Dynasty rarely carve too many patterns on their inkstones, because this inkstone has a cute tiger on it, so I prefer it to be an inkstone from the early Ming Dynasty.

"Of course, the stone for making inkstones may have been mined since the Song Dynasty, and it was only in the Ming Dynasty that inkstones were made.
Chapter completed!