The birthplace of Duan Inkstone is in Baishi Village and Binri Village, Huanggang Town, Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province. Baishi and Binri villages are adjacent to each other. Eighty percent of the villagers have no land to cultivate. They have made a living by quarrying and making inkstones for generations. Today, this area is still the core area for Duan Inkstone production. The raw material of Duan Inkstone, Duanxi Stone, is produced in the Fu Ke Mountain and Beiling Mountain in Lingyang Gorge, the eastern suburbs of Zhaoqing City. According to records, Duan Inkstone was created in the early Tang Dynasty and became popular throughout the country in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. It is famous for its advantages such as ink-taking like wind, ink-spreading like oil, no water consumption, no ice, immortality, and protection of the brush hair. It is known as the first of all inkstones. In the development history of more than 1,300 years, Duan Inkstone artists have continuously summed up their experience, adapted to local conditions, and formed a complete set of scientific and rigorous production processes. The production process of Duan Inkstone is very complicated, mainly including quarrying, material selection, making rough stone, design, carving, box matching, polishing, waxing and other processes. Most Duanxi stones are not earthquake-resistant, so all aspects of Duan Inkstone production have been handmade. The quarrying of stones is crucial in the production of Duan inkstones. In ancient times, the height of the inkstone pit was about 80 cm. The quarry workers could only squat, sit or lie down to quarry stones. The mining tools used were often made according to the environment of the stone, and the carving tools were made according to the hardness of the inkstone stone and the carving skills. Before the 1970s, these tools were mostly made by quarry workers or inkstone craftsmen. The quarrying tools mainly include sharp iron chisels of varying thicknesses, iron pens, hammers, cannon chisels and lamps, and the carving tools mainly include hammers, chisels, chisel clamps, wood drills, saws, steatite and work tables. Like many traditional handicrafts, the production of Duan inkstones also has its own industry worship and guild organizations. Duan inkstone artists worship Wu Ding, and a grand worship ceremony is held on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month every year. Duan Inkstone Industry is a guild organization for Duan Inkstones. Artists are qualified to make Duan Inkstones only after they enter the industry. Duan inkstones have high artistic value, collection value and humanistic value. Under the new historical conditions, mechanical production has impacted the production of handmade Duan inkstones, and the inheritance of traditional skills has led to a lack of successors for craftsmen. Only by seriously solving these problems can we effectively protect and continue the traditional Duan inkstone production skills. The Duan inkstone production skills were selected into the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006.