The soot provides the colour, the glue binds it. We mix them together, working them into a kneadable paste in mortars. We then press the paste into carved wooden moulds and let it dry until it’s completely hard.’
‘What’s soot?’ Zhu wanted to know.
‘In the forest we collect resinous branches from old pine trees. We burn them in the stove. What remains afterwards is a fine black powder. This powder is the soot.’
‘And how do you make the glue?’
‘To make glue we order stags’ antlers from Dai province . We cut the horns into finger-length pieces and place these in the river. They stay in the water for twelve days and twelve nights until they’re washed through and clean. Then we put the pieces in a large pan. If you cook them for long enough they turn into a thick sludge. If you cook them for even longer they eventually turn into glue. And the glue and soot need to be pounded thirty thousand times in the iron mortar to mix them properly.’
The master encouraged him to peer into the huge pan where a soup with chunks of stags’ antlers was boiling away, but Zhu held his nose and turned aside fast.
‘That stinks!’
‘I agree, the smell is somewhat unpleasant. It always troubled your father, too. So he developed his own recipe.’
The master took a small bottle from the shelf.
‘Here, take a sniff, Prince.’
A pleasant, spicy aroma wafted into Zhu’s nose.
‘That’s a mixture of cloves, camphor and musk. We use it as a perfume. It has a stronger aroma than the glue.’
Now the master held a second phial under his nose. Zhu was instantly taken by the fruity, heady smell.
‘An infusion of bark from the pomegranate tree,’ the master said. ‘Your father always adds this secret preparation . That’s why his ink is called “The envoy of the pomegranate tree”.’
The master raised his forefinger and looked Zhu sternly in the eye.
‘But you didn’t hear a word from me, my prince.’
5 At the age of thirteen, Zhu Da enrolled in Nanchang as a student for entry into the civil service. A glittering future lay before him: the life of a cultivated art-lover and man of letters, dividing his time between the study of beauty, managing provincial affairs and pleasure.
A few years later his family chose a girl from a good family as a suitable wife for the prince. In the very first year of their marriage she gave birth to a child.
This was also the year when the Ming dynasty came to an end and the Qing dynasty began.
First, the capital fell into the hands of the Manchus. But after the conquest of Peking the majority of the country remained under Chinese rule. From the capital the Manchus embarked on their systematic conquest of the entire empire. It did not take them long to win over Chinese collaborators for their campaign.
Nanking had long been regarded as a second capital city in the south. There the Ming princes were able to maintain their rule after the fall of Peking. But a struggle broke out over the succession. From among the many rivals a clique of influential officials finally named the Prince of Fu as emperor.
The Prince of Fu preferred the easy life. His father had tracked down and killed followers of the rebel Li. The prince now sent four armies northwards to the banks of the Yangtze as protection. But the four generals fought among themselves for supremacy. Instead of forming a united front against the Manchu onslaught, the soldiers marauded and plundered their way through the villages. Only one of the generals, Shi Kefa, showed the necessary resolve in the fight against the advancing enemy, until a faction of adversaries from Nanchang toppled him from power.
Zhu’s home city of Nanchang lay to the south-west of Nanking, in the province of Jiangxi. There the prince lived with his wife and young son in the palace.
Dark clouds were gathering in the sky, but no storm had yet brushed the earth.
6 The Manchus retained their organization of the Eight Banners and began
‘What’s soot?’ Zhu wanted to know.
‘In the forest we collect resinous branches from old pine trees. We burn them in the stove. What remains afterwards is a fine black powder. This powder is the soot.’
‘And how do you make the glue?’
‘To make glue we order stags’ antlers from Dai province . We cut the horns into finger-length pieces and place these in the river. They stay in the water for twelve days and twelve nights until they’re washed through and clean. Then we put the pieces in a large pan. If you cook them for long enough they turn into a thick sludge. If you cook them for even longer they eventually turn into glue. And the glue and soot need to be pounded thirty thousand times in the iron mortar to mix them properly.’
The master encouraged him to peer into the huge pan where a soup with chunks of stags’ antlers was boiling away, but Zhu held his nose and turned aside fast.
‘That stinks!’
‘I agree, the smell is somewhat unpleasant. It always troubled your father, too. So he developed his own recipe.’
The master took a small bottle from the shelf.
‘Here, take a sniff, Prince.’
A pleasant, spicy aroma wafted into Zhu’s nose.
‘That’s a mixture of cloves, camphor and musk. We use it as a perfume. It has a stronger aroma than the glue.’
Now the master held a second phial under his nose. Zhu was instantly taken by the fruity, heady smell.
‘An infusion of bark from the pomegranate tree,’ the master said. ‘Your father always adds this secret preparation . That’s why his ink is called “The envoy of the pomegranate tree”.’
The master raised his forefinger and looked Zhu sternly in the eye.
‘But you didn’t hear a word from me, my prince.’
5 At the age of thirteen, Zhu Da enrolled in Nanchang as a student for entry into the civil service. A glittering future lay before him: the life of a cultivated art-lover and man of letters, dividing his time between the study of beauty, managing provincial affairs and pleasure.
A few years later his family chose a girl from a good family as a suitable wife for the prince. In the very first year of their marriage she gave birth to a child.
This was also the year when the Ming dynasty came to an end and the Qing dynasty began.
First, the capital fell into the hands of the Manchus. But after the conquest of Peking the majority of the country remained under Chinese rule. From the capital the Manchus embarked on their systematic conquest of the entire empire. It did not take them long to win over Chinese collaborators for their campaign.
Nanking had long been regarded as a second capital city in the south. There the Ming princes were able to maintain their rule after the fall of Peking. But a struggle broke out over the succession. From among the many rivals a clique of influential officials finally named the Prince of Fu as emperor.
The Prince of Fu preferred the easy life. His father had tracked down and killed followers of the rebel Li. The prince now sent four armies northwards to the banks of the Yangtze as protection. But the four generals fought among themselves for supremacy. Instead of forming a united front against the Manchu onslaught, the soldiers marauded and plundered their way through the villages. Only one of the generals, Shi Kefa, showed the necessary resolve in the fight against the advancing enemy, until a faction of adversaries from Nanchang toppled him from power.
Zhu’s home city of Nanchang lay to the south-west of Nanking, in the province of Jiangxi. There the prince lived with his wife and young son in the palace.
Dark clouds were gathering in the sky, but no storm had yet brushed the earth.
6 The Manchus retained their organization of the Eight Banners and began
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