Secrets of ink

        Can you imagine a house is almost covered in black? Can you picture a house naturally floating a special smelling of Chinese herbs? Do you know that ink stick was soft during the process of production? Do you know that ink can be eaten? In the post, I will tell you something about ink that you don't know.

A small factory located at the alley in San Chong District

        Ink manufacturer is a minor job in Taiwan. It is hard to find a handmade ink stone or ink stick recently. Now most ink sticks, ink stones and something about ink are produced by factories. The skill of making ink is almost disappeared. However, Da you ink factory still works hard on it.

an elaborate set 

        The craftsman, Chen Jia-de, seems to be the only one that makes the ink with hands in Taiwan. In 1960s, calligraphy is a subject that every student has to learn. The ink industry was once prosperous at that time for the large demand. But the prosperity didn't last for a long time. China exported a large number of cheap inks into Taiwan and it was a serious hurt to ink industry. Da you ink manufacturer was once depressed by the price competition but it changes the business strategy. Instead of joining the competition, Chen Jia-de makes more quality inks which set him apart from other manufacturers.

manufacturing process

the powder of Chinese herbs

(musk+borneol=the scent of the ink)

production machine used for grinding

knead 

hit

knead

press

air-dried for several months

the rightest one is the craftsman, Chen Jia-de

        In fact, the interview was made when I was a senior high school student. I have to do some research on the jobs. Why we decided to interview Da yu ink manufacturer was because we wanted to know more about the exceptional skills and the rarely-seen tradition.

        It is hard for me to remind the details during the interview, but there are two matters impressing me the most. The first one is that the skill is fading away. Although there were once some apprentices, they all ended up leaving. The skill has to be cultivated not only for 3~5 years so most of them quitted at the end. What the master relied on mostly is the experience so it is impossible to learn in a moment. It is such a crisis that no one inherits the skill. Secondly, in order to preserve the exceptional skill, the governmen sets the laws which look good. But you can just look at them because it's hard to apply subsidy. The master is awarded by the government for several times but he cannot get the support is such an irony. 

         

• official website: http://www.yous.com.tw/du/du_index.htm

• If you still have time, please give me some feedbacks and point out my grammar errors

Thanks for your reading！