I need a translater... See the pictures.

[Shao Feng-Li]

and some tips on how to use this thing. So far I know it's an ink stone. heh, I snagged it at a yardsale for a buck. Later I lerned that these things can be rather pricy. The lady didn't even know what it is.

[glitch1501]

man, that looks so cool, wish i had one, too bad i dont know what they say, ill get my friend to look at it

[shooraijin]

I'm not sure if it's Chinese or Japanese. It could be Chinese (there's no okurigana).

[Shao Feng-Li]

i believe its Chinese. no kana or furigana (i think thats right)

[Zedian]

It doesn't look like any Kanji characters, then again Kanji was derived from Chinese text. It just looks too curvy, so I say Chinese. Then again, Hiragana is curvy but not nearly as complex.

[Shao Feng-Li]

thats not japanese at all i can show you kana tables. chinese can be blocky, curvy... depends on the artist.

[Vampi]

Why do you need a translator? Anyways, I can't read it. The characters are too old for me. All I can read is high quality something.... (My friend took a look and she managed to add on the "quality".) Anyways, you add water to the flat end, then take an inkstick and grind the stick on the water in a smooth circular movement (I'm not sure if it needs to be circular but I do it that way). You keep on grinding the stick untill you have the color and shade you want. After forming the ink, it should pool at the deep end of the inkstone, otherwise your flat end will become bumpy and weird and it'll get annoying when you try to form some more ink.

(That looks like a really nice inkstone you have there. I'm jealous.......)

[Azier the Swordsman]

Based on my studies, Chinese tends to be more cursive in form, while Kanji is in more of a block form.

[Mave]

I study "old" chinese as well and can vaguely translate 3 words properly. However, here's what my "Chinese tutor" Malaysian buddy says.

Top 2 words: High class/quality

Big 4 words on the left: "Xuan Chang shi yan" = "Xuan Chang stone inkstone" (Xuan Chang is suspected to be a brand name, no significant meaning)

5 smaller words on the right: "kong cheng sian ming chang" = "Kong cheng province name product" (Kong cheng is the name of a province, once again, no significant meaning)

I'm not sure whether my hanyin pinyin is correctly spelled but I bet no one cares . Hope this helps. ah....I must pick up my Cantonese and Mandarin this summer. ^_^

[Vampi]

I noticed a couple of people think that Chinese characters are (naturally) more curvery than Kanji. This is not true. Chinese calligraphy is considered an art (it IS an art) and that is what a lot of people look at and say "oh...so that's how Chinese people write their characters". If all Chinese people had to write their characters in this style, they would not get much done. If I have to write like this all the time, I will never be able to finish my homework or worksheets before the deadlines. The calligraphy is curvey and filled with strokes that are quite difficult to master. It's such a hard artform that there are many competitions held for them. I'd say the only difference between Kanji and Han zi (Chinese characters) are the forms they use. Kanji is a mix between old/traditional and simplified characters. When people write Han zi, it is either simplified or traditional, not a mix.

[Shao Feng-Li]

thanks mave! I wwas going nuts wandering if it were Japanese or chinese. (I know that japanses use kanji too)

[JediSonic]

Haha, from the words 'high quality' I knew it would just be a brand name! Its still pretty darn cool though, even if I dont appreciate asian relics quite as much as a lot of people on this site

[Mave]

thanks mave! I wwas going nuts wandering if it were Japanese or chinese. (I know that japanses use kanji too)

hehe you're welcomed, I thank my roommate who's my Chinese guru and who also whipped out an old Chinese dictionary for this! BTW, she also said it looks like a nice inkstone you have there.

[Lehn]

Stupid question of the day:

What exactly is a ink stone? Is it like a ink pot?