“The Quest for the World's Best Inkstone Is Still on”

Kim Jin-han, One of Korea's Masters of Stone Craft and Part of Chungnam Intangible Cultural Assets

“I've been over 60 years in this field, but my quest for making the world's best inkstone is not over yet.”

President of “Hanjin Crafts” in Boryeong, Chungnam Province, Kim Jin-han has devoted his entire life to making Nampo inkstones, which are part of the area's special products, made over three generations of his family for about 100 years. He received the title of Chungnam Intangible Cultural Asset in 1987 and was selected as one of Korea's Masters in stone craft in 1996.

Nampo inkstones are made of Nampo stones, which are high quality stones from the Nampo area.

Kim has made over tens of thousands of inkstones so far and offered about 1,000 inkstones to celebrities including the president. In January, 2009, President Lee gave one of his Nampo inkstones to Taro Aso, Japan's prime minister visiting Korea. His works are so popular that there are also fans in search of his inkstones in the U. S. A. and Japan.

It was at seven years old that he started to make inkstones, being highly influenced by his grandfather and father who settled down in Nampo-myeon, Boryeong City and made inkstones for their lives. He was dexterous, and his father recognized his talent and allowed him to work with stones. It's been over 60 years since then. He said, “I pay painful attention to every detail since my works bear my name. No small mistakes will be tolerated.”

In 2007, he set up the “Inkstones Museum”, a two-story building of about 30 pyeong in area next to his studio. There is found the studio where visitors can experience the inkstone making process on the first floor and an exhibition of about 100 inkstones he made on the second floor. “My goal is to expand my exhibition to 1,000 works for the museum,” said the master with a bright smile. “I will devote my remaining life to making the very best inkstones.”

**Inkstones

Inkstones are part of the stationery used to make Chinese ink for calligraphy.

They widely vary in shapes including circles, squares, hexagons, octagons and dodecagons. They even take forms of objects. Their size spans a broad range from small to large. The main material is stone. Their artistic value is often recognized according to shapes.