Juque Ink Stone, named after Juque - former name of places along the south river in Panzhihua.

Three pieces of the stone were collected by Song Guangqu, chief inspector of Dayao County and exhibited in the Panama International Fair in 1909, which were awarded the first prize, gaining an international reputation.

In 1913, Yunnan government planned to exploit Juque ink stone, unfortunately, Cun Bingxin, the ink stone-making master who was sent to Kunming to teach the craftsmanship died of illness, which made the stone lost from then on.

Now the origin place of Juque ink stone is within the jurisdiction of Panzhihua, Sichuan province. Juque ink stones enjoys high and special tastes with purple black lustre, exquisite texture and crystal-clear and moist shape; what’s more, it produces oil-like ink which will never be rusted. So far a variety of stones are available including Stone Eyes, Qinghua, Yu Naodong, Ice-like stripe, Huona, Venus, Lvbiao, Huangbiao, Yudaibiao, jade belt stripe, Golden String, Silver String, especially the Stone Eye, which is bluish green like jade, appearing like cat eyes, fresh and vivid.

In 1985, with great efforts made by some people in Panzhihua the Juque ink stone was developed and marketed. In December, 1989, Juque ink stones were displayed in Beijing National Art Museum of China. Fangyi, Honorary President of Chinese Calligraphy Materials Association cut the ribbon at its opening ceremony. Many famous people in calligraphy and painting circle such as Zeng Xianlin, Cui Naifu, Xu Chi, Li Feiping, Li Chao and Du Shiduo attended the ceremony. Domestic and foreign celebrities such as Fang Yi, Zhang Aiping, Qi Gong, Dong Shouping, Huang Zhou, Qian Jiaju, Pu Jie, Wang Ziaju, Liu Bingsen, Fan Zeng, Zheng Mingzhong, Liu Yanliang, Chen Shenggui and Xu Mengfeng wrote poems and inscriptions to praise Juque ink stone as the precious treasure.

In April 1995, Qiao Shi, Chairman of NPC on his visit to Japan and Korea, presented Jueque ink stones as gifts to Japanese Mikado, Prime Minister, Prolocutor and Korean President, which were highly praised and became famous throughout the world.

Editor: Shi Liwei