松花砚：四大名砚之外的“新星”

.

Songhua inkstone: a rising star in China’s inkstone field

之前我们的节目中曾介绍了中国传统的“文房四宝”——笔、墨、纸、砚。中国砚，品类繁多，松花砚当属“个性”砚台之一，以产自吉林长白山的松花石雕刻而成。用松花石制砚兴盛于清朝，康熙帝对松花砚喜爱有加，封它为“御砚”。

In our previous programs, we introduced the traditional Chinese "Four Treasures of the Study"-inkbrush, inkstick, paper and inkstone. There are many kinds of inkstones in China, and Songhua inkstone is one of the characteristic inkstones, which is carved from Songhua stone in Changbai Mountain, northeast China’s Jilin Province. Making inkstone out of Songhua stone flourished in Qing Dynasty, and Emperor Kangxi loved it so much that he honored it as the inkstone exclusively used by the imperial family.

松花砚的“个性”之一在于色彩，由于松花石长年累月经海水洗涤，自然纹理丰富多样，又色彩斑斓，以绿色最为多见，紫袍绿带最为奇特，杨黄绿色最为上乘......无论是纯色系，还是共生色系，大自然神奇的力量赋予松花石得天独厚的天然优势，使得松花砚散发独特魅力。

One of the special properties of Songhua inkstone lies in its color. Washed by seawater for years, Songhua stone’s natural texture is rich and colorful, with green being the most common color, purple background woven with green belts being the most peculiar, and poplar yellow green being the valuable. Whether it is solid color or symbiotic color, the nature’s magical power endows Songhua stone with natural advantages, resulting in the unique charm of Songhua inkstone.

                             松花砚雕工艺师 张世林                               

松花砚的另一个“个性”在于雕刻。如何在松花石自然美的基础上，进行艺术创造，这对匠人的技艺要求极高，通常要掌握平雕、透雕、镂空等多种技术。并且，松花石坚硬如玉，矿物硬度在3.0到4.5之间，大约是金刚石一半的硬度，雕刻技艺则难上加难，要将天然松花石与后天雕刻技艺巧妙融为一体，还需匠人注入自己的思想精华，达到“天人合一”的艺术境界，才能成就一方好的松花砚。

Another unique feature of Songhua inkstone lies in carving. How to create art on the basis of the natural beauty of Songhua stone requires extremely high skills of craftsmen, who usually have to master a variety of techniques such as flat carving, transparent carving and hollow carving. Moreover, Songhua stone is as hard as jade. Its mineral hardness is between 3.0 and 4.5, which is about half of that of diamond, making its carving even more challenging. To skillfully integrate natural Songhua stone with manual carving, craftsmen need to devote their own ingenuity to achieve the artistic state of achieving harmony between man and nature. Only going through these efforts can a good Songhua inkstone be made.

 松花砚雕工艺师张世林作品 《苏武牧羊》           

在匠人的手里，松花砚往往被融入大量中华文化的元素，多以诗画营造氛围，我们称其为“文气”。眼前这件《苏武牧羊》松花砚，以绿石层雕刻出人物、羊群等细节，用紫石层作为风雪交加的气氛渲染，而密集不均的星眼恰似暴风中的雪花，点缀其间，将苏武不屈不挠捍卫国家尊严的气概表现得淋漓尽致。

In the craftsmen’s hands, Songhua inkstone is often integrated with an abundance of Chinese cultural elements which are mostly related to poetry and painting and creating a literati feel. The Songhua inkstone named “Su Wu the Shepherd” carves figures, sheep and other details with green stone layers, and renders with purple stone layers as the presence of wind and snow. The dense and uneven dots are just like snowflakes in the storm, perfectly underscoring Su Wu’s indomitable spirit of defending national sanctity.

如今，砚作为工具的功能性已逐渐弱化，相反其艺术性、鉴赏性不断被挖掘称赞。松花砚也凭借自己的“个性”优势，从实用性向艺术性蜕变，在大众视野中“出圈”，成为继四大名砚之外的“新星”。

Nowadays, the functionality of inkstone as a study tool has gradually weakened. On the other hand, attention to its artistry and appreciation value is on the rise. Songhua inkstone has also changed from being known for its practicality to its artistry by virtue of its unique individuality. Songhua inkstone has made its mark as a rising star after the country’s established four renowned inkstones.

鸣谢：吉林省林业技师学院松花石雕刻专业高级讲师、中国长白山松花石研究会副主席张世林       

                 吉林省林业技师学院 松花石雕刻与鉴赏专业 砚雕讲师张斯奇  提供素材