She ink slabs are made of gray, light green, or rare black slate with markings, the stone looks layered and is hard. She ink slabs have three features: they form ink quickly, don't harm the brush, and keep the ink wet.

She ink slabs have a special artistic style with different markings resulting from geological changes over time. Typical markings are Gold Star, Gold Star Patch, Gold Line, Silver Star, Silver Line, Cherry Blossom Gold Star, and Small Water Wave. Rarer ones are Eyebrows, Jade Belt, Jade Belt with Gold Star, Big Water Wave, Fish Egg, Dates Kernel Eyebrows, Jade Patch, etc.

Anhui Province was part of an ocean 13 billion years ago. Through glacial and volcanic movements, mud and other substances formed these rare ink slab slates. This is part of the reason why she ink slabs are so costly.

Chengni ink slab owned by Jin Nong, a member of "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou" of the Qing Dynasty.	A Qing ink slab made from an incomplete stele of the Eastern Han Dyansty.	Zhao Mengfu's Duan ink Slab.

Gansu Tao Ink slab

Tao ink slabs from Lanzhou, Gansu Province in west China are acclaimed as one of the Four Famous Ink Slabs in China, along with the duan ink slabs of Guangdong Province, the she ink slabs of Anhui Province and the chengni ink slabs of Shanxi Province. Tao ink slabs have a long history and became famous during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Produced mainly in Taoyan Village in Zhuoni County, Tao ink slabs are made of stone found at the bed of the Tao River; hence the name. It has four main kinds: Duck-Head Green, the best of the four in terms of quality, with light green, water-like lines and hard in nature; Parrot Green with a dark green and smooth surface; Osier Green in green mixed with vermilion, and with hard nature; and Light-Green, featuring the flowing lines of water.

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