Water-dropper (calligraphy)
Appearance
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/Water-dropper.jpg/200px-Water-dropper.jpg)
A water-dropper (Japanese: 水滴, Hepburn: suiteki, Chinese: 水滴; pinyin: shuǐdī) is a small device used in East Asian calligraphy. It's a container designed to hold a small amount of water. In order to make ink a few drops of water are dropped onto the plane of the inkstone. Through grinding an inkstick, particles come off and mix with water, forming ink.
Water-droppers may be made of copper, jade and stone or ceramic. A water-dropper has two small holes for water and air, it is designed so that only a few drops of water can fall at one time.[1]
There are a few types of water-droppers.
Type of water-dropper | Hanzi / Kanji | Pinyin | Rōmaji |
---|---|---|---|
Water-dropper with pouring spout and a handle | 水注 | shuǐzhù | suichuu |
Water-droppers in diverse forms with large openings | 水中丞 | shuǐzhōngchéng | suichuujou |
Jar-like water-droppers with large opening | 水盂 | shuǐyú | suiu |
Frog shaped water-dropper | 蟾蜍 | chánchú | senjo |
- ^ suiteki 水滴 Template:En icon; aisf.or.jp, consulted on: 2012-12-31