27.04.2026

Lecture: He Cheng, "The Pharmaceutical Soot: Ink as Medicine and Pigment in Premodern China"

On Tue, Apr 28, at 16:00, HE Cheng will deliver a lecture on the medical use of ink

HE Cheng PhD (College of Fellows, Tübingen University), The Pharmaceutical Soot: Ink as Medicine and Pigment in Premodern China"

Tue, 28 Apr 2026, 16:00, Wilhelmstr. 133, Raum 30, or Zoom Meeting ID: 936 0056 4476 Passcode: 928919

Abstract Ink, the pivotal writing material of premodern China, has been widely discussed in terms of calligraphy, painting, collecting, and printing technologies, with an increasing number of studies engaging with its materiality. However, these approaches often isolate ink within literati culture, overlooking the broader trajectories of its ingredients: they derived from various plants and animals with diverse uses beyond writing and art. How ink acquired shifting meanings and cultural values through its making process remains underexplored. This talk examines one such dimension: the use of ink in medicine. Drawing on a wide range of premodern sources, including ink treatises, medical texts, materia medica, technical encyclopaedias, and recipe collections, it shows that ink was understood as a versatile material whose functions extended well beyond the written page. By underscoring its medicinal applications, the paper reconsiders ink as a substance embedded in overlapping domains of art, healthcare, and technology. It highlights the fluid boundaries between artistic and medical practices, adding another good example of the cultural meanings of pigment materials in premodern China.

Bio He Cheng completed her PhD in History at the University of Warwick. Her doctoral research focuses on the evolving concept of “lacquer” in the early modern period, examining its materiality and varied applications. Currently, she is a postdoctoral research fellow at the College of Fellows, University of Tübingen. She is interested in early modern material culture, history of science and medicine, and art history in the global context. Her current research project looks at the cultural history of stones in early modern China and Europe.