墨是文房四宝之一,借助于这种独特的材料,中国书画奇幻美妙的艺术意境才得以实现。墨还是中国印刷术发展不可缺少的物质因素之一,我国古代的典籍及拓片等也都靠着它流传于世。墨在中国文化中有突出的地位,不仅能从它普遍用于书写的事实还能从它本身具有的艺术特点和所蕴涵的丰富内容上得到证明。墨的产生,与人类书写或描绘的行为紧密相关,自然可以追溯到极为久远的年代。前人由于认识的局限,故称“上古无墨”。近代以来,随着考古学的不断发展,一些有关墨的文物陆续被发现,这类直接或间接的考古材料为我们大致勾勒出了墨的起源和发展轨迹。 Ink is one of the four treasures of the four genres. With this unique material, the fantastic artistic artistic conception of Chinese calligraphy and painting can be realized. Ink is also one of the indispensable material factors in the development of Chinese typography. The ancient books and rubbings in China are all circulating on the world. Ink has a prominent place in Chinese culture, not only from the fact that it is generally used for writing but also from its own artistic features and rich content. The production of ink, which is closely related to the human behavior of writing or depicting, can naturally be traced back to the very old age. Former people because of the limitations of understanding, so called “no ink”. Since the modern times, with the continuous development of archeology, some artifacts related to ink have been discovered one after another. Such direct or indirect archeological materials provide a general outline of the origin and development of ink.