Shanghai Ink Factory price reference
This is a condensed version of the "Shanghai Ink-sticks Factory Zhao Suo Gong" product catalog from the early 1980s. The prices were gleaned from an incomplete set of photos shared by a member called 老四 on a long defunct collector discussion board. There are copies floating around the internet, e.g. in 陽貴's blog and archived in the Garden. I have a physical copy of the catalog listing the same products, but without price information. The booklet itself is not dated, but my copy contains an article that refers to events in 1982. These materials have been supplemented by my own research and comments.
I would be thrilled to track down a complete list some day!
| 貨號 | 名稱及規格 | 單兩價格 批發/零售 |
單位 | 批註（羊羊） | |
| （一）高級油煙墨 | |||||
| 一〇一油煙（五石漆煙） | |||||
| 101 | 4.17 | 6.30 | 錠 | 102的1.5–1.6倍 | |
| 101–2 | 大好山水 | 4.00 | 6.00 | " | |
| 102 | 一〇二油煙 （超貢煙） | 2.67 | 4.00 | " | 103的1.2倍 |
| 103 | 一〇三油煙（貢煙） | 2.17 | 3.30 | " | 104的1.2倍 |
| 104 | 一〇四油煙（頂煙） | 1.80 | 2.70 | " | |
| （二）青墨 | 201 油煙青墨、202 松煙青墨 | ||||
| （三）套頭墨 | 101T–104T, 501T | ||||
| 111T | 特製油煙套墨 | 5.70* | 8.63* | 合 | 101的1.3–1.4倍 |
| 油煙青墨套墨 | |||||
| 201T 1 | 大雪壓青松 | 3.25* | 4.88* | " | 102的1.2倍 |
| （四）珍品、仿古藏墨 | 301–304 仿古藏墨 | ||||
| 高級藝術珍品藏墨 | |||||
| 311–8 | 雨中崗山 | 20.00* | 30.00* | 合 | 111的3.5倍 |
| （五）中低檔墨 | 501 特煙墨，601 精煙墨，701 選煙墨 | ||||
| 401 | 松煙墨 | 0.75 | 0.93 | 錠 | |
| （六）顏色墨、蠟墨 | 802 硍硃墨、803 彩色墨（合）、804 蠟墨 | ||||
| 天然颜料墨 | |||||
| 801–1 | 硃砂墨 | 10.00 | 15.00 | 錠 | cinnabar |
| 801–2 | 雄精墨 | 3.40 | 5.10 | " | realgar |
| 801–3 | 石黄墨 | 3.40 | 5.10 | " | orpiment |
| 801–4 | 石綠墨 | 10.00 | 15.00 | " | malachite |
| 801–5 | 石青墨 | 12.00 | 18.00 | " | azurite |
| 801–6 | 蛤粉墨 | 2.60 | 3.90 | " | calcium carbonate |
| 801–7 | 赭石墨 | 2.60 | 3.90 | " | iron oxide |
Remarks
Units of measurement Ink is weighed in taels（兩）. As to the weight of a tael, there exist several standards, two of which are relevant to our interests.
| 1斤 (catty) | 1兩 (tael) | 1錢 (mace) | |
| 16兩 | 10錢 | ||
| 舊制（清朝庫平兩） | 596.816克 | 37.301克 | 3.7301克 |
| 新制 民國18年（1929年) | 500克 | 31.25克 | 3.125克 |
The ROC or "new" standard was adopted by the PRC in 1949–1959 and is still being used by modern inkmakers, although the modern definition of a tael is something else entirely. It is possible that the state-owned ink factories used the Qing dynasty or "old" standard until the 1990s. 王唯行 Wang Weixing finds that one- and two-liang inks from the 1980s in his possession, respectively, fall within 35±1 and 70±2 grams, the deficit explained by drying.
Units of sale（單位） Ordinary ink is sold by the piece（錠）in a simple cardboard box with a brocade upper（錦盒）. Fancy/gift ink comes in a presentation box （合）. I have attempted to determine a unit price for these products by eliminating the value of the packaging; prices so obtained are indicated with an asterisk (∗). The value of the simple brocade box is virtually zero.
Further remarks
（一）高級油煙墨 The design of the ink does generally not affect the price, with the exception of Great Landscape. The Chinese Painting Research Institute inks（中國畫研究院藍製）神韻、萬紫千紅、五色 are nos. 101-37 to 101-39, that is, standard oil soot 101.
（二）青墨 201-1 would be a plain brocade box version of 201T 1, but the price is missing.
（三）套頭墨 特製油煙 111 is not available in plain packaging.
（四）珍品、仿古藏墨 A considerable amount of value went into presentation and packaging, and it is difficult to say much about the ink based on ex-factory price alone. Consider the set 311-8 雨中崗山: the ingots are marked 特製油煙, but the unit price is 3.5 times that of 特製油煙 111 ignoring packaging (a lacquered wooden box for 雨中崗山). Rubrics 301–304 are reproductions of antique ink in a box.
（五）中低檔墨 The prices for 501–701 are missing. 701 選煙墨 is sold in units of 斤.
（六）顏色墨、蠟墨 The mineral colors 801 have been identified based on the book 仇慶年《傳統中國畫顏料的研究》，蘇州：蘇州大學出版社（2012). Prices for the last page in the catalog are missing, but the commonly seen cinnabar inks 萬年紅、至寶、魚戲蓮 are all listed under 802 硍硃（銀朱）墨, i.e. synthetic cinnabar (vermilion). The common set of five color inks 803 彩色墨 is a low-end product.
