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Mojing 墨經

Aug 30, 2011 © Ulrich Theobald
This book must not be confounded with the philosophical treatises Mojing, the "Mohist Canon", part of the book Mozi 墨子.

Mojing 墨經 "Book of inksticks" is a brief text on the production and use of inksticks written during the Song period 宋 (960-1279) by Chao Guanzhi 晁貫之 (late 11th cent.), courtesy name Jiyi 季一. Of his life, it is only known that he once occupied a position as examining editor (jiantaoguan 檢討官), and that he was a relative of the Song-period bibliographer Chao Gongwu 晁公武 (1101-1180), author of the book catalogue Junzhai dushu zhi 郡齋讀書志).

His book Mojing deals with 20 topics, from the types of pine trees to the production of the sticks. The Mojing is included in quite a few series, like Shuofu 說郛, Jindai mishu 津逮秘書, Tang-Song congshu 唐宋叢書, Chaoshi congshu 晁氏叢書, Xuejin taoyuan 學津討原, Xu baichuan xuehai 續百川學海, Yimen guangdu 夷門廣牘, Yipu souqi 藝圃搜奇, Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and Meishu congshu 美術叢書.

Table 1. Contents of the Mojing 墨經
1. Pine trees
2. Making soot
3. Glue
4. Sieving
5. Harmonic (relation of components)
6. Pounding the pulp
7. Pills
8. Ingredients
9. Molds
10. Forms
11. Drying
12. Treatment
13. Rubbing of the inkstick
14. Colour and appearance
15. Sound
16. 輕重 Weight
17. 新故 New and old
18. 養蓄 Storage (of new inksticks)
19. Seasons (for production)
20. (Evaluation of) work
Sources:
Li Xueqin 李學勤, Lü Wenyu 呂文鬰, eds. (1996). Siku da cidian 四庫大辭典 (Changchun: Jilin daxue chubanshe), Vol. 2, 1853.
Zhao Huizhi 趙慧芝 (1995). "Mojing tiyao 《墨經》提要", in Guo Zhengyi 郭正誼, ed. Zhongguo kexue jishu dianji tonghui 中國科學技術典籍通彙, part Huaxue 化學 (Zhengzhou: Henan jiaoyu chubanshe), Vol. 1, 1069-1070.
蜀漢 (221-263)