The jokes about drinking ink in ancient China were made of whole grains, which did no harm to your health. Therefore, teachers often punish them by drinking ink.

The main raw materials used in ancient ink making are pine smoke, lacquer smoke and tung smoke. First use pine smoke, then use lacquer smoke and tung smoke. The smoke of ink must be burned before it can be made. This kind of cigarette is a semi-finished product, and then it is made into Mo Ding by gluing, mixing and steaming. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the main raw material of ink was pine smoke, and some were lacquer smoke and pine smoke.

The Jin Dynasty improved the ink-making technology and invented the preparation with glue. During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, people paid more attention to the production of ink. The government has set up official factories, and the production area has expanded from the previous generation to Yishui and Luzhou. These places not only produce pine, but also produce rare pine, which creates conditions for making fine ink.

In the Ming Dynasty, the ink-making technology developed again, and the previous secret recipes of tung smoke and lacquer smoke were widely used, with black ink and fragrant smell. The Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty were the heyday of Huimo. The painting and carving of ink lines and the decoration and production of lacquer boxes have reached their peak.

It is not made of grain, but there is an idiom "There is no ink on the chest", so there is a story of drinking ink. Chen Yi also had a story about drinking ink and water when he was a child.