This was a family member’s. They were a Buddhist monk who lived many years as a monk in Daitoku-ji. They had very few possessions when they died and we were curious to know it’s significance. Can you help?
I don’t really want the translation, though that may be relevant. What I really want to know is: is this important enough to keep? Or just a cheap souvenir they maybe got for someone?
Thanks!!
7 comments
It is an inkstone and ink for calligraphy. You put water in the dish part and rub the ink in it to the desired consistency.
http://nanshouen.com/
The writing just looks like the company who made it.
ooh an ink stone! if you put a certain amount of water in the dish and grind some of the stick into it, it turns into ink for calligraphy and brush painting. I used to have a tiny one I got from a garage sale as a kid and I remember being so fascinated by it-
I don’t know the size of this, but from what I have seen on the company’s product page, the expensive ones are over $100.
I don’t think it is cheap because there is a pattern around it.
Ink stone.
Ink stone. It is a part of the calligraphic ritual to make ink for writing by dropping some water there in the indentation and rub the stick against the stone bed. Only after making fresh ink this way one can dip a brush into it and start writing, in this case writing down Buddhist scripture, perhaps.
This is an Inkstick. The rectangular dish under is an inkstone.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkstick
To make ink, you put a few teardrops of water onto the shallow part of the stone disk. You then grind the stick in circular motions on the surface to make the ink.
Here is a tutorial with pictures of how this is used.
https://syoyu-e.com/article/column/tools_how/sumi-surikata