书法是中国传统文化的核心之核心，通常所说的书写历史正是中国人几千年来文化经书写而成的要义。

　　水墨画（中国画）也是由于书写的意义而演变发展。所以保持书写可以判断一个艺术家有关中国文化的传承功力及正统与否，所谓“笔道”所谓“写意”之类的中国画中的名词提法，也是因为手中一支毛笔落笔过程中的法度。

　　水墨画发展至今已呈现各种面目，古代大家和近现代名家的作品的确实名符其实，精湛至极。

　　水能载舟亦能覆舟，中国人一向认为水难以把握，渗墨之后的水墨加以笔法一样也是难以操控。

　　中国人讲究用色用墨可分五个层面，所谓“墨分五彩”是渐入佳境的一种人生体验，最具艺术功力的大师巨匠才真正能够将墨分五个层次幻化到精妙。

　　水墨属于东方文化，中国人的哲学，不强调视觉冲击力而在于存在中的人生哲理，墨的水性善变，人经过长期的修为之后心才能抵达超然的境界。

　　水墨属于东方的道，讲究一个“虚”字，虚的前提必须提炼精神内容，笔墨修养，功夫在诗外、在学问、在去功名利禄、在五行、在空灵、在拙、在逸、在道……

　　总之，中国文化的心性是春秋历史，看重千秋笔墨这点似乎是坚如磐石。

　　所有关于中国人生存的智慧里，书法、水墨都是中国文化的主体，如茶道、琴音、烹饪、太极等，都以围绕核心而展开。因此，研究了解书法水墨这一方面的深层内容也等于大概走近东方哲学及中国人的内心世界。

　　中国的墨由植物提炼松烟和动物提炼油烟两种，一种属于淡墨，一种属于浓墨。再掺入植物香料后用一定分额的树胶和水，效果千变万化，妙趣无穷。最要紧的是水渗入墨汁幻化后的通透感，如经高手挥毫自得天趣，似幻似真，偶然性衍化和人心修为的结合，此乃东方文化的虚实变化，沿革千年。

　　说到中国文化：文房四宝、琴棋书画均在针灸、武学、烹饪之前永远是绕不开的主题。

　　这本关于《墨分五彩》的书主要阐述的内容即是中国文化的精髓之要点，中国在一百年之前的数千年社会文化的发展中最代表文化工具的毛笔以及运用毛笔所挥洒而成的春秋历史，因此而证明中国文化辉煌而灿烂的曾经。

　　中国文人非常重视学问，文人居处必有书房，而书房的陈设文房四宝居首，所谓四宝，即湖笔、宣纸、端砚、徽墨，湖笔产地浙江湖州；宣纸在安徽宣州泾县，端砚产于广东肇庆端州；徽墨即安徽所产。中国文人，人人会写一手毛笔字，即书法，一手好字在古代的中国被视为高品质的优雅之士，被人仰视，反之不会书写或字写得不好，被人鄙视。在中国古代做官得苦读书，练好字，才能进行科举考试。

　　写字就是运用毛笔，墨加水，中国画的起源都经书法的线而进入绘画程序，书法是水墨创作的前提，没有一个画家不写字而能创作水墨的。然而，在古代中国，文人雅士几乎人人会画梅、兰、竹、菊这类水墨画，这是再正常不过的事了，中国古代的有关职业的高低贵贱排列是：仕、农、工、商，仕即为读书人，会运用毛笔写文章的人，他及他们以文化的努力通过考试而为官的一群人。所以通常来说，水墨画和学养学问是不可分割的一个整体。

　　凡被誉为书香、墨香之高贵气质的雅士一定受人爱戴和敬重，故而书是由墨而成，墨的气息是运用把握得当而得以体现。有关墨分五个层次变化的，可以轻，可以重，可以灵动，也可以透，更可以传神。色便是彩，墨分五色也被称为“色分五彩”。

　　水墨是古代中国人的文化、哲学、精神生活的重重之重，遗憾的是现在介绍给西方世界的关于水墨艺术缺少著名而有影响力的论述。这本书预期给读者明确而全新的水墨认识。

The Five Colours of Ink

Abstract

　　Calligraphy is the inner core of traditional Chinese culture. Writing history, in a traditional sense, is the very essence of culture that has been distilled from thousands of years of writing.

　　Ink wash paintings (traditional Chinese paintings) evolved and developed as writing entered different stages of interpretation. Whether an artist maintains the habit of writing may be used to appreciate whether he has effectively inherited the Chinese culture and whether such culture follows the tradition. Concepts like "Bidao" or "Xieyi" earned their names thanks to the rules of art, by which a brush is supposed to be maneuvered against the paper..

　　Up until now, the ink wash painting has developed into various forms. The works produced by either ancient or contemporary masters are worthy of the name for what it’s shown are exquisite and masterful skills

　　As an old saying goes, the water that can bear a boat can also sink a boat. Chinese people always believe that water is hard to control. The case is similar when you are holding a brush soaked with ink, attempting to create elegant strokes.

　　Chinese applications of ink and colour can be classified into five levels. If you are on the way to understand the idea---"the Five Colours of Ink", you are approaching the best life experience. The master is the only one that can fantasize this very idea to perfection.

　　The ink wash painting is part of the Eastern culture. What the Chinese philosophy values most is not a strong visual impact but a good capture of philosophy among beings. The capriciousness of water makes ink naughty. Only by persistent practice and reflection can one reach the other side of the river.

　　The ink wash paining belongs to Taoism, a school of Eastern philosophy where an emphasis is put on "being void". The precondition of being void is to purify one’s spirit. The art of ink wash painting should go beyond brush and paper. It lies in extensive learning, in a mind free of worldly pursuits, in the universe of the Five Phases, in the intangible, naivety, being detached, and Tao…

　　Chinese culture has cherished a love for history. The attachment to writing down the millennia of history seems to be as solid as a rock.

　　Among all the Chinese wisdoms that teach people how to survive, calligraphy and ink wash paintings are considered as the bedrock, constituting the major part of the Chinese culture. It is also the origin of the tea ceremony, Qin , cooking and Tai Chi. Therefore, having a better knowledge of calligraphy and ink wash paintings probably means getting near to the Eastern philosophy and Chinese people’s inner world.

　　Chinese ink can be classified into two kinds: one is refined from the burned pine trees and the other from animal fat; the former is the thin ink and the latter the thick ink. After some spiced are added and a certain amount of tree gum gets mixed with water, a variety of infinite changes take place. What a fun! What deserves full attention is the translucence of the liquid after ink is amply mixed with water, like a master‘s miraculous creation of heavenly pleasure as his writing brush is wielded, waving between illusion and reality--- an integration of an accidental derivation and the cultivation of a peaceful mind and good deeds. This is the dynamic balance between the real and the false that has evolved over thousands of years.

　　When talking about Chinese culture, people will never miss the topic like "the four treasures in a literary man’s study" and "the four skills for literati and the higher class" before a discussion about acupuncture, martial arts and cooking.

　　The Five Colours of Ink is a book that explores the core of Chinese culture. China’s glorious past was witnessed by writing brush, the most representative tool that left the stage a hundred years ago with a sustained depiction of thousands of years of history.

　　Chinese literati placed a high value on knowledge. Where a literary man lives, there is a study. The most valued things in a study are the four treasures--- Hu writing brush, Xuan paper, Duan ink stone and Hui ink stick. Huzhou, a city in northern Zhejiang province, gave birth to Hu writing brush; Xuanzhou, a historic city in Anhui province is the place of origin for Xuan paper; Duan ink stone comes from Duanzhou, a district in today’s Guangdong; Hui ink stick, as the name suggests, is from Anhui. In ancient China, everyone from the literati was a fair calligrapher. A beautiful handwriting could be regarded as a token of high social status. Without it, a man would be held in contempt because a good handwriting, as an acquired skill after diligent study, indicates one’s qualification to sit the imperial examination.

　　To practice calligraphy is to grind the ink stick with water and then use a writing brush to write a character. In fact, the ink wash painting holds a calligraphic origin. By further following the art of ink and water, it embraces the artistic creation of a painting. As calligraphy is the mother of the Chinese painting, no painter can draw a painting without the practice of calligraphy. Thus, there is no surprise that almost every literary man in ancient China could draw paintings about plum blossom, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. There was also a ranking about the social status of different professions: from higher to lower were literary men, farmers, artisans and merchants. Literary men, or "Shi" in Chinese, refer to the group of people who can write well with brush and earn a position in the government by making a success in the imperial examination. Therefore, both the ink wash painting and true scholarship make an undivided whole.

　　The refined scholars, who are acclaimed for their elegance that is nurtured by the fragrance of books and ink, must enjoy wide esteem. Books are formed by ink, the scent of which gets released as ink is properly applied. The colours of ink vary at five levels: it can be thin or thick, smart and clear, and even vivid. What colour embodies defines how colour appears. "The five colours of ink" can also be rephrased as "the five colours of colour".

　　The ink wash painting was the top priority of Chinese people’s culture, philosophy and spiritual life in ancient times. The pity is that hardly can we find a well-known and influential work that introduces this very art to the Western world. This book is expected to give readers a clear understanding of the ink wash painting from a fresh new dimension.