Investigation of the manufacture development of early Chinese ink in the Western Han dynasty

Abstract

Chinese ink, generally produced in a stick form, was often like pellets before the Western Han dynasty (202 bce–8 ce) according to literary records and a few archaeological discoveries. However, their composition and manufacture have not been scientifically analysed to date. In this study, the ink pellets roughly dated to 2000 years ago from two royal tombs of the Han dynasty (the Nanyue King's tomb and the Marquis of Haihun's tomb) were analyzed by micro‐/non‐destructive methods, including synchrotron radiation‐based micro‐computed tomography (SR‐μCT), Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry (Py‐GC/MS). The results reveal that they were made from pine soot, and the production technology of the later Haihun ink was more complex than that of the earlier Nanyue King ink. The microstructure of the ink pellets indicated that some kind of glue should be used in the Haihun ink, which is the earliest case of glue addition. Moreover, plant extracts, including borneol and cedar oil, were detected in the Haihun ink, reflecting another aspect of progress in ink production history. These technical breakthroughs imply that the Western Han dynasty is a critical period for the development of traditional ink manufacture, and the shape transformation of Chinese ink is closely related to the evolution of ink production technology during this specific period.

Insights into the Residue Trapped in Glaze Cracks of Archaeological Ceramics Using Microchemical Analysis

“…In order to determine whether these black residues are organic or not, more analysis tools such as Py-GC-MS needs to be applied. Previous studies on Chinese ink residues (Ren et al, 2018(Ren et al, , 2022 have used a combination of Py-GC-MS, Raman spectroscopy and FTIR to analyze the characteristics of different Chinese ink residues. These previous studies have shown that the combination of these three methods is effective in determining whether the carbon-based residues are Chinese ink and-if so -which type of ink has been used.…”

Ink in Secular and Religious Documents from the Pelliot Collection (Bnf, Paris): A Study of Ingredients and Uses of Ink In1st Millennium Tocharian, Sanskrit and Chinese Manuscripts from the Kucha and Dunhuang Regions

“…of the ink obtained. Moreover, seldom is known about the purpose(s) and context(s) in which these inks were used (Ren et al, 2022).…”

“…In this respect, Raman spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were first used as they offer a non-invasive/nondestructive approach to the study of inks, in particular by identifying the nature of the soot and the presence of proteinaceous material (Ren et al, 2018). However, while they provide a very useful and simple methodology to detect the presence of inorganic pigment and organic binders, they rarely detect the precise nature of material used in the manufacture of ancient and/or degraded complex mixtures (Ren et al, 2022). On the other hand, pyrolysis-comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GCxGC/MS) microdestructive analysis represents a valuable method for obtaining qualitative and semi-quantitative information on a great diversity of materials found in inks (Perruchini et al, 2022).…”