Authentic Yi De Ge Ink Guide: Review and Verification Methods
Today I’m introducing Yi De Ge ink, the inventor of Chinese liquid ink and industry leader. This article covers three Yi De Ge ink products that I personally tested at their headquarters in Beijing’s Liulichang district.
Yi De Ge Headquarters Building
This is a photo I took of the Yi De Ge headquarters located at 25 South Xinhua Street, Xicheng District, Beijing.
Today, I’ll give you a simple introduction to these three inks, along with methods to identify authentic Yi De Ge ink and my personal testing experience.
Full article below:
Understanding Yi De Ge Ink Products
I initially wrote about Chinese ink on my calligraphy blog, discussing China’s five famous ink brands. Since I frequently use Yi De Ge, I focused heavily on it in that article. Yi De Ge actually produces many different types of ink.
Their high-end products include Yi De Ge Lao Mo (Old Ink) and Yun Tou Yan ink. Mid-to-high-end options include Yi De Ge Premium Ink, Yi De Ge Refined Ink, Yi De Ge Zhonghua Ink, and Yi De Ge Refined Zhonghua Ink. Mid-to-low-end products include Calligraphy & Painting Ink and Beijing Ink. Low-end options include Student Ink and Practice Ink.
I won’t discuss the Old Ink here because it’s too expensive, and I didn’t test it during my visit to Yi De Ge headquarters. I focused on testing several mid-to-high-end and mid-to-low-end inks. Ultimately, I selected Yi De Ge Refined Ink (mid-range), Yi De Ge Calligraphy & Painting Ink (mid-to-low-range), and Yi De Ge Yun Tou Yan Ink (high-end).
Yi De Ge ink product lineup (partial selection only)
Let’s first look at Yi De Ge Refined Ink.
Yi De Ge Refined Ink
Yi De Ge Refined Ink was the brand’s first product when it launched. Its production history dates back to 1865 (the fourth year of Emperor Tongzhi’s reign during the Qing Dynasty). Qi Ming Wen Fang offers this in 100g, 250g, and 500g sizes.
Yi De Ge Refined Ink is a mid-range product within their ink series. Higher-end options include Premium Ink and Yun Tou Yan Treasure Ink. Lower-end options include Zhonghua Ink and Calligraphy & Painting Ink. Compared to Yun Tou Yan and Calligraphy & Painting Ink that I’m featuring, Yi De Ge Refined Ink writes relatively smoothly on Qi Ming Wen Fang’s handmade Maobian paper.
This smoothness mainly comes from differences in the formula. I don’t know exactly which ingredients differ. Headquarters staff told me that some of their raw materials are purchased directly from Beijing Tong Ren Tang’s traditional Chinese medicine suppliers. Before visiting Yi De Ge headquarters, I called to request a factory tour and permission to take promotional photos, but they politely declined. Yi De Ge’s formula is a national secret, so the factory cannot be freely visited.
How to Identify Authentic Yi De Ge Ink
Because Yi De Ge is so famous, there are many counterfeit products on the market. Here I’ll explain the official anti-counterfeiting measures Yi De Ge uses—methods to identify authentic versus fake Yi De Ge ink.
Yi De Ge Refined Ink Authentication Method
On genuine Yi De Ge boxes, there are three large gold-stamped characters: “Yi De Ge.” To show you the details clearly, I specially bought a magnifying glass to assist with photography (since I don’t have a macro lens). Through the magnifying glass, you can see many tiny colorful “Yi De Ge” characters within the gold-stamped letters. Counterfeit Yi De Ge ink usually lacks these colorful micro-characters.
Yi De Ge Ink Security Code
Yi De Ge ink packaging boxes also have a security code. Scratch off the gray coating on the security label to reveal the code. You can call the verification hotline or visit the Yi De Ge website and enter the code found under the coating to verify authenticity.
Yi De Ge Ink Reflective Silver Thread
On genuine Yi De Ge ink bottle labels, there’s a reflective silver thread. This thread can be completely pulled out, and it also contains tiny “Yi De Ge” characters. Counterfeit Yi De Ge also has this thread, but it’s printed on and cannot be removed.
These three methods are Yi De Ge’s official anti-counterfeiting measures. Actually, some counterfeit Yi De Ge ink on the market has other details we can use to identify it.
Yi De Ge Ink Printed Text
Yi De Ge headquarters staff also told me about fake products they’ve discovered and showed me a bottle of confiscated counterfeit Yi De Ge ink. For example, on the side of the ink packaging box where it says “Beijing Yi De Ge,” counterfeit products often write “Intangible Cultural Heritage” instead.
Yi De Ge Ink Bottle Cap Authentication
Genuine Yi De Ge bottle caps have a small tab, while counterfeits don’t. This is another way to distinguish real from fake Yi De Ge. Of course, there are other methods, which I won’t detail here.
In summary, I hope everyone will support genuine products. Counterfeit Yi De Ge not only affects writing quality but may also shorten your Chinese brush’s lifespan due to excessive chemical components and strong corrosiveness.
Yi De Ge Yun Tou Yan Premium Ink
Now let’s look at Yi De Ge Yun Tou Yan Premium Ink (usually called “Yun Tou Yan” for short).
Yun Tou Yan is Yi De Ge’s High-End Ink
I rarely use this one normally, but I made sure to test it this time.
Yun Tou Yan is Yi De Ge’s high-end ink. The ink is especially concentrated—when poured into an inkstone, the surface reflects purple light. Because the quality is excellent, the price is relatively higher than Yi De Ge’s other inks. It’s generally recommended for competition pieces. It’s also excellent for small regular script. For large characters or practice, I still recommend Yi De Ge Refined Ink or Calligraphy & Painting Ink.
Yun Tou Yan, because it “takes soot from the top layer and contains purple jade light,” is praised as Yi De Ge’s premium ink model. Regarding soot collection, you can refer to my previous article “How Ancient Chinese Ink Was Made: Oil Soot vs Pine Soot.”
Compared to Yi De Ge Refined Ink, Yun Tou Yan is much more concentrated and darker in color. When I tested Yun Tou Yan on Qi Ming Wen Fang’s handmade Maobian paper, the paper provided slightly more resistance to the brush, but it still felt reasonably smooth. If you don’t dilute it with water, after writing one or two strokes you’ll get dry brush effects. So unless you’re writing small regular script on gold-flecked paper, I recommend diluting this ink with water.
The authentication method for Yun Tou Yan is similar to the Yi De Ge Refined Ink method I mentioned above, so I won’t repeat it.
Yi De Ge Calligraphy & Painting Ink
Finally, let’s talk about Yi De Ge Calligraphy & Painting Ink.
Yi De Ge Calligraphy & Painting Ink
If we use Yi De Ge Refined Ink as the baseline, one grade up is Yi De Ge Premium Ink, and one more grade up from Premium Ink is Yun Tou Yan. One grade down is Calligraphy & Painting Ink.
Yi De Ge Calligraphy & Painting Ink writes more smoothly than Beijing Ink (one grade below it), has darker ink color, and offers relatively richer tonal variation.
Because the concentration is just right, you don’t need to dilute it with water when using it. This makes it perfect for calligraphy beginners who struggle with knowing how much water to add.
Yi De Ge Calligraphy & Painting Ink Anti-Counterfeiting Micro-Characters
Slightly different from Yi De Ge Refined Ink and Yun Tou Yan, Calligraphy & Painting Ink has a gold-stamped label instead of gold-stamped characters, affixed to the upper right corner of the box. But the identification method is the same.
When angled toward the light, you’ll see many tiny colorful “Yi De Ge” characters on it. Counterfeit Yi De Ge Calligraphy & Painting Ink lacks this anti-counterfeiting measure.
Testing Experience with Three Yi De Ge Inks
With a rigorous, careful, and responsible attitude, I poured these three inks into three separate inkstones and tested them using my custom Qi Ming Qingquan medium-sized Chinese brush.
Testing Experience with Three Yi De Ge Inks
On the left is Yi De Ge Refined Ink—after pouring it out, I added about ten drops of clean water with an ink dropper. In the middle is Yi De Ge Calligraphy & Painting Ink—poured out without adding water. On the right is Yi De Ge Yun Tou Yan Ink—also poured out with about ten drops of clean water added.
Writing Effects of Three Yi De Ge Inks
The paper I used is also Qi Ming Wen Fang’s traditional handmade Maobian paper—rough on both sides but with excellent ink absorption, perfect for testing the performance of these Yi De Ge inks.
Below, I’ll mainly discuss these three inks’ color, consistency, and writing feel.
All three inks write with excellent darkness and won’t appear gray. Even after the ink marks dry, they won’t turn gray. Some inks look quite black when first written, but after the ink dries, they become gray and unattractive.
Yun Tou Yan is extra-concentrated. When poured out, the surface has a purple sheen. You need to dilute it with water when using it, otherwise it will waste ink and provide more resistance when the brush moves across rough paper. But overall, the writing experience is still smooth.
Yi De Ge Refined Ink has medium concentration. Whether to dilute it depends on your preference. I like adding some water—it writes more smoothly that way.
Yi De Ge Calligraphy & Painting Ink has the most suitable concentration. You basically don’t need to dilute it—pour it out and use it. It writes very smoothly too, not rough like low-end Yi De Ge Practice Ink. So for beginners, I think Yi De Ge Calligraphy & Painting Ink is actually the most convenient to use. However, compared to Yi De Ge Refined Ink and Yun Tou Yan, it’s slightly less smooth on my paper.
After writing with diluted ink, I poured out some more on one side of each inkstone without diluting it, and wrote with the undiluted ink.
Brush Strokes Written with Yi De Ge Refined Ink
These are brush strokes written with Yi De Ge Refined Ink. No ink bleeding, no ink halos, no ink spreading. It’s relatively smooth. According to Teacher Huang Jian’s “Huang Jian Elementary Calligraphy Tutorial,” these strokes use dry ink technique, especially the middle stroke in the image above. If I write a few more strokes, the brush tip will run dry.
Effect Written with Yi De Ge Calligraphy & Painting Ink
This is the effect written with undiluted Yi De Ge Calligraphy & Painting Ink. If you observe carefully at the starting points of these three strokes, you’ll see slight bleeding, but not much. This counts as what Teacher Huang Jian calls moist ink.
To explain more clearly, let me enlarge the strokes. In the image above, the large red box highlights the starting point. Notice the edges of the strokes inside the red circles—there’s slight bleeding. After adjusting the brush and continuing the stroke, when the ink inside the brush decreases, the bleeding stops. This is indicated by the lower rectangular red box above. Look closely at the areas marked by two small red boxes in this red frame—basically no bleeding occurs.
Written with Yi De Ge Yun Tou Yan Ink
This was written with undiluted Yi De Ge Yun Tou Yan ink. Comparing these strokes to Yi De Ge Refined Ink strokes, you’ll notice that these strokes show more “flying white” effects (white spots in the strokes). It’s fine at the beginning of the stroke, but toward the end, flying white appears, showing how concentrated it is.
The above reflects my testing experience. Additionally, I need to mention that all three inks can be used for finished artwork on my handmade Maobian paper. After completion, the work can be mounted without ink running—you can use them with confidence.
Important Final Reminders
Finally, I must especially remind you: while practicing calligraphy daily is certainly a good habit, please make sure to put away the ink after writing, especially if you have children or dogs at home. Otherwise, the consequences might look like this:
Always Put Away Ink Promptly
Dog Causing Ink Everywhere in the Room
Floor Contaminated by Ink
