画有题跋,书有序言或后记,砚往往也有砚铭。“铭者,名也,名其器物以自警也。”(明吴讷《文章辨体序说》)据《大戴礼》载,周武王有砚铭曰:“石墨相著而黑,邪心谗言,无得汗(同污)白。”意思是,砚台本来不黑,用石墨一磨就发黑了。那邪恶之心、坏话如同黑墨一样,只有警惕它才能保持自身清白。这是我国最早的砚铭。砚铭是一种比较自由的文体,可歌可赋,或诗或文,长短随意,丰富多采。借它寄托的思想情趣也是多方面的。一类是就砚论砚。如西晋傅玄的一则砚铭:“采阴山之潜璞,简众材之收宜,设方圆以定形,锻金铁而为之。”为这类砚铭的典型。但更多的是赞美砚石或得砚、爱砚之情。如唐代大书法家褚遂良的端砚铭:“润比德,式以方,绕玉池,注天潢,永年宝之斯为良。”对砚的材质、形状和特征作了描述。清代扬州八怪之一高凤翰,当他获 Painting inscriptions, the book preface or postscript, Yan often Yanming. According to “Dai Dai Li,” set forth in Zhou Wu Wang Yanying said: “Graphite with each other and” Black, evil heart words, no sweat (with dirt) white. “Mean, the inkstone was not dark, black with graphite grinding. That evil heart, bad words as black ink, only vigilance it can maintain its innocence. This is our earliest inkstone. Yan-ming is a more liberal style, can be song or Fu, or poetry or text, the length of random, rich and varied. It is also multi-faceted by the thoughts and feelings it pinpointed. One is Yan inkstone. Such as the Western Jin Fu Xuan an inkstone: ”Mining Yin mountain Yimu Pu, Jane received the appropriate public, set a radius to shape, forging gold and iron for it.“ But more is praised Yan Yan or Yan, love Yan situation. Such as the Tang Dynasty calligrapher Chu Sui-liang Duan Yan Ming: ”Ruby, style to party, around the pool, Note Heavenly Lake, forever Po Po Sri Lanka is good. " The inkstone material, shape and characteristics were described. Gao Feng Han, one of the eight strangers in Yangzhou during the Qing Dynasty, when he won