一得閣以墨汁著名，為第一個出產墨汁產品的品牌，在北京開店至今已超過150年。其墨質量穩定、濃度適中、墨香濃厚、墨跡亮麗。當代書家啟功曾以「墨汁制從一得閣，書林誰不頌先河」美譽其墨汁，可見其製墨技藝受人推祟。

 

一得閣創辦人謝松岱，生於湖南，清同治年間上京赴考落第。事後謝有感研墨費時因而耽誤答卷，於是構思一種能夠即用的墨汁。在反覆嘗試後終製出墨汁並於同治四年(1865年)在北京琉璃廠開辦墨店，店前掛上一副對聯「一藝足供天下用，得法多自古人書」，取首字稱為「一得閣」，廣受文人歡迎。後來謝著書《南學制墨札記》記錄制墨之法。謝身故後店舖由弟子徐潔濱打理，除申請註冊商標，更將生意擴張至津、滬、鄭等。1956年公私合營成立北京一得閣墨汁廠。2004年在企業改革後成立「北京一得閣墨業有限責任公司」。

 

一得閣墨汁有兩大類，油煙與松煙。油煙用油料，以燃燒桐柚籽或豬油，集煙製墨。松煙則以松樹油為燃料。油煙墨色暖富光澤，濃淡相宜，擅勾線、渲染等書畫筆法。松煙墨烏黑無光而色冷，前人用於畫髮勾眉，善書小楷與繪工筆畫。

 

一得閣於年節和收徒拜師時，會上香敬賢，先拜墨聖再拜掌櫃。所謂之墨聖有三，一為蘇東坡，謝曰為取煙方法之源；二為北宋制墨名家、《墨經》著者晁季一，啟發謝製膠方法；三為明代沈繼孫，其《墨法集要》圖載古法制墨。

 

一得閣改革後，現代化管理、研發與銷售技巧使產品遍佈全國，甚至日、星、馬等國。然而自2010年宋萬新接管後，一得閣先後出現疑偷工減料致墨汁變質，閒置老製墨師父尹志強使他要另起爐灶續以古法產墨，嚴重打擊口碑與古墨技藝的承傳。加上坊間充斥假一得閣墨令這項技藝的名聲受損。經歷巨變後，一得閣於2016年重振聲威，請回尹志強坐鎮，古墨技藝得以重現。2017年一得閣於北京琉璃廠舉辦了試墨論壇，邀書畫家試用新墨「上品雲頭豔」並討論墨品。

 

由於一得閣墨汁製作技藝沒有外傳，而製墨過程污臭令青年人不願入行，使古法傳承出現重大危機。2016年一得閣三位老師傅尹志強、張長林和何平舉行公開收徒儀式，九名新弟子為一得閣墨汁製作技藝第四代傳人，令需要師授徒學的製墨法得以傳承。

有鑑教育部積極推動學校書法教育，一得閣擬於中小學組織書法活動，從可推廣產品外亦有宣揚其古法製墨技藝之用。

 

「一得閣墨汁製作技藝」於2014年成功列入第四批國家級非物質文化遺產代表性項目名錄。

​

Established in 1865 and thus having a history of more than 150 years, Yidege (一得閣) is the first brand to produce mozhi墨汁 (prepared Chinese ink).  Yidege ink is known for it’s reliability, being stable, having the right consistency, and an inky fragrance. Qigong, a famous calligraphy from the early 20th century, once remarked, “with ink that is made by Yidege, who wouldn’t praise your calligraphy?”

 

Xie Song-dai (謝松岱), the founder of Yidege, was born in Hunan. He experimented to develop a prepared ink during the reign of Tongzhi in the Qing dynasty, as he felt that the process of using an ink stink to grind ink was inconvenient and time-consuming, especially during examination time, cutting into the time that could be spent answering questions. After numerous trials and countless failures, he eventually succeeded, marking a revolution in the process of calligraphy and painting.  Xie started his business of ink production in Liulichang, Beijing. In front of the shop hung a couplet, which said「一藝足供天下用，得法多自古人書」.  The name “Yide” (一得) came from the first characters of this couplet. Yidege ink quickly became popular because of its convenience and quality. The process of ink production was recorded in Nan Xue Zhi Mo Zhaji (南學制墨札記). Xu Jie-bin (徐潔濱), Xie’s disciple, managed Yidege after Xie’s death. He not only registered the trademark of Yidege, but also expanded the scale of business to Tianjin, Shanghai, and Zhengzhou. In 1956, Yidege became a joint public-private operation, and established a factory in Beijing. In 2004 after incorporation the company reformed its name to “Beijing Yidege Ink Industrial Co., Ltd.”.

 

There are two main types of ink produced by Yidege: oil soot ink and pine soot ink. The former is made from the soot of burning seeds or lard; the latter from the soot of burning pine. Oil soot ink is bright and warm in colour, and various in texture that it can be used in both calligraphy and painting. Pine soot ink is dark and matte, and is most suitable for drawing fine details such as hair, and writing small characters and gongbi style painting.

 

At the New Year festival or when recruiting disciples, a ritual of offering incense will be conducted, first to the sages of ink and then to the shopkeeper. The so-called “sages of ink” are Su Dong-po (蘇東坡a politician and one of the great calligraphers of the Song Dynasty) who advised the method of collecting soot, Chao Ji-yi (晁季一, the writer of Mo Jing《墨經》and master of ink production in the Song dynasty who inspired the process of glue production of ink, and Shen Ji-sun (沈繼孫) who wrote the illustrated book of ink production Mo Fa Ji Yao 《墨法集要》in the Ming Dynasty.

 

After the business reformation of Yidege, modernized management, research and development and promotion were adopted, and the company successfully expanded to Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. However, after management was passed to Sun Wan-xin (宋萬新) in 2010, Yidege faced risks in being suspected of using low quality materials in ink production, and the old ink masters felt brushed aside, who then started another ink factory of their own. Such factors greatly damaged the reputation of Yidege and the inheritance of the technique. In addition, the market was saturated with fake Yidege ink, also making it harder to regain the trust of customers.  Things seemed to turn around in 2016 when Yidege was able to invite the ink master Yun Zhi-qiang (尹志強) to return, who reintroduced the proper and traditional methods of ink making.  In 2017, held a forum and invited calligraphers and painters to attend, inviting them to try the new ink, and to discuss the product.  

 

Since the technique of ink-production was not revealed to outsiders, and the production process is smelly and dirty, young people are not willing to take part in learning the process.  Recognizing the danger that the transmission of skills was in, in 2016 three masters of Yidege—Yun Zhi-qiang, Zhang Chang-lin, and He Ping—held a ceremony for taking in nine new disciples as the fourth generation of inheritor of Yidege ink technique. Furthermore, with the support of the Ministry of Education who is actively promoting the teaching of calligraphy in schools, Yidege is involved in going to schools and organizing calligraphy-related activities, with the opportunity to also introduce how ink is made.   

 

Since 2014, the item of Yidege Ink technique has been included in the fourth batch of the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China, as nominated by Xicheng district in Beijing.