#duanyan
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Three Ways to Read One Character
承 means "to bear," "to inherit," and "to take pleasure in." A single slab of Duan stone, built as a tea tray, carries all three meanings depending on how it's used.
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Why the Famous Quarries Are All Closed Now
Of more than 70 historic Duan-stone quarries, barely a dozen are still mined — and the most famous names, Laokeng among them, have been sealed for years. This piece traces that scarcity directly.
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A Pair Cut From the Same Stone, Reading Differently
Two stone drum inkstones, modeled on the shop's own collection of drum forms — same shape, same source, but the grain runs differently in each one.
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A Different Quarry, the Color of Liver
Most of this series comes from Kengzai stone. This piece comes from a different historic quarry entirely — Beiling Song-pit, with a deep liver-purple color none of the others share.
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An Inkstone That Doubles as a Candle Holder
Five small drum-shaped inkstones, made because a stack of good old Kengzai stone was sitting in storage — and because the same shape happens to also hold a candle.
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A Shape Borrowed From an Imperial Academy
The Biyong inkstone's round form, set inside an octagonal frame, copies the shape of a Han-dynasty imperial academy — moated on every side, round as a jade disc.
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Stone That Aged Like Tea
A square Duan-stone inkstone made from quarry stock Baoputang had set aside since the 1960s — and a craft divided between two pairs of hands, sixty years apart.