Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng

[carpedavid]

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Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng is a beautiful, imperial ink that is the color of sapphires dipped in an indigo dye. According to the manufacturer, this ink is their attempt to replicate the characteristics of the first royal ink of ancient China – an ink was used during government exams during the age of Confucianism. Due to the connection to Confucius, they have named it after his 77th direct descendant, Kung Te-Cheng (1920 – 2008). They put a great deal of research into finding ancient examples and modern samples to base the color on, and have, as a result, developed an exquisitely beautiful ink.

Kung Te-Chung is described as "purple," which is technically accurate, since it sits on the color spectrum between blue and violet. However, it is not the red/blue that we're accustomed to thinking of when we think of purple. It is more accurately described as a rich, deep blue with a tinge of indigo. It is highly saturated, though not as much as some other Noodler's inks, and thus puts down a consistent solid line in both fine and wide nibs.

As expected from a Noodler's ink, feathering was nearly nonexistent on all of the paper I tested this ink with – Moleskine, Rhodia, and even standard copy paper. It is a very dark and saturated ink, so I was unsurprised that there was a medium amount of show-through on Moleskine paper. It is enough to notice, but not enough to bother me. The ink is well behaved with regard to bleed-through, though – I noticed none on any of the papers I tested.

The drying time of Te-Cheng is surprisingly quick compared to other Noodler's inks. On Rhodia and Moleskine paper, it was dry in less than ten seconds, while on Ecosystem and copy paper, it dried in less than five seconds. Since I find that dry time is one of the most limiting factors to my enjoyment of many Noodler's inks, this was a wonderful discovery.

Kung Te-Cheng is a "bulletproof" ink, meaning that it can't be removed from a document. According to Noodler's, its bulletproof inks bind with the cellulose in the paper, making it impervious to most forging techniques. I can attest that this is indeed a waterproof ink, since I completely soaked a page of Rhodia paper and this ink went nowhere. It didn't move, bleed, or decrease in intensity at all.

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Unlike most Noodler's inks, Kung Te-Cheng ships in a circular 4.5 oz bottle with an eyedropper lid. Like their other inks, the bottle is stark and utilitarian – nothing you'd want to set on top of your desk to display. It also comes with a Platinum Preppy fountain pen and a Platinum Preppy highlighter that have been converted to an eyedropper feed.

The fountain pen has a fine, black, anodized steel nib, which is marked with "03." Medium Platinum nibs are marked with "05." The bodies of both the pen and the highlighter are clear plastic, allowing you to see the ink filling the barrel – which with an ink this color is quite nice to look at. The pen itself is a good value for the $3 that it normally retails for, though the nib is slightly scratchy and takes a couple of strokes to start back up after it sits idle for a few seconds. Overall, it lays down a nice solid line that is neither overly wet nor overly dry and is balanced well enough to be comfortable in the hand.

The highlighter, on the other hand, lays down a river of ink that takes forever to dry. Moreover, the chisel tip has neither the precision of a calligraphy nib nor the versatility of a brush. I don't think that the highlighter is a good vehicle for this ink. It would be great for the highlighting ink that Noodler's also manufactures, but not for Kung Te-Cheng.

The instructions warn that, because the formulation for this ink is unusual, it should only be used with the supplied pens. Apparently, the eyedropper fill and the feed of the Platinum Preppy reduce the possibility of clogging and keep the flow of the ink even. I have read, however, that a number of adventurous fountain pen aficionados have used it in a wide variety of pens without issue. As with all fountain pen inks, it is important to practice good pen hygiene, cleaning them regularly and emptying them if intending to let the pen sit without use for an extended period. This is all the more important when dealing with highly saturated inks like this one.

Kung Te-Cheng is a wonderful ink – one that I'm glad I discovered. It is well behaved on paper and dries quickly. Though I normally prefer inks with a high degree of shading, this is such a fantastic color that it is now my favorite blue ink. It is very easy to read on both white and off-white paper, and it is appropriate for both personal and business use.

Review Materials: for the wide stroke, I used the supplied eyedropper pen with the marker tip. For the narrow strokes, I used the Platinum Preppy with a fine 03 steel nib. The paper is Rhodia 80 gsm from a Rhodia Bloc No. 16 pad.

Note: This bottle of ink was graciously supplied for review by Lily Kim at Jet Pens.

Noodler’s Kung Te-Cheng at Jet Pens (http://www.jetpens.com/product_info.php/cPath/55_676_738/products_id/3840)

Read all of my ink reviews and more at seize the dave (http://www.carpedavid.com).

[benjitzu]

Thanks for this awesome review! I received a sample of KTC last week from Goulet Pens (no affiliation, just happy customer) and LOVE this ink! Tried it in the Ahab Flex pen and in a Lamy Safari Fine - worked amazing in both, and behaved exactly as your review stated. Will be buying a full bottle soon and might even dedicate a Safari F or EF to it exclusively.

[TMac]

Very nice review. This ink looks like it could easily be used in a business setting. I will need to get a sample and try it out, looks interesting.

[inkstainedruth]

This is probably my favorite ink. Even more than Noodler's Manhattan Blue (which is far and away my favorite blue, although there's a whole lot of blue inks jockeying for the "#1-1/2" spot at the moment.) Yes, it's cloggy if not a daily (but it takes to dilution pretty well). And no, I don't use it in the pens that come with.... It initially went into my first Noodler's Konrad (since lost) and was the first ink that behaved well in that pen (i.e., wasn't drippy). It now is in permanent residence in another Konrad.
Sober enough and permanent enough for professional settings (it's my go-to ink for writing checks -- with El Lawrence and 54th MA as backups -- because once dry it does not go ANYWHERE: doesn't run or fade). But it's got just a little bit of "Naah, I'm an individual, I'm a little quirkier than your father's blue-black". And I agree with the original poster's assessment of it being more indigo than "purple" (although the purple tones come out more when the ink is diluted -- I tend to run through a fill, and if it gets pretty used up (or cloggy) I refill the pen with distilled water.
Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[dr.grace]

Not sure why it's not spelled "Kong De Cheng", which is the official Mandarin (pinyin) spelling. With the tone marks (which indicate the changes in pitch as it's pronounced) it would be Kong3 De2 Cheng2.

[shudaizi]

Pinyin would combine the last two syllables: Kong Decheng -- not separate them.

The spelling Noodler's uses is based on an older romanization system, Wade-Giles. Wade and Giles were two British diplomats in China -- and later scholars -- who devised a system of romanization for mandarin in the mid-19th and early 20th-centuries. Noodler's spelling isn't quite right, though because proper Wade-Giles requires aspiration marks (which indicate whether some initial consonants are aspirated or un-aspirated). Wade-Giles for this ink, and the person it takes its name from, would be: K'ung Te-ch'eng. (K without the ' would be a g-sound; ch without the ' would be a zh-sound in pinyin -- the aspiration marks indicate a slight puff of air to the g / zh sounds, which turns them into hard "k" or "ch" sounds.) I'm guessing that Nathan has just dropped the apostrophes (aspiration marks) to make it easier and less confusing for his customers.

ETA: Wade-Giles was devised for and used primarily by specialists (sinologists). Until the 1980s, most scholars and libraries of Chinese literature, language, history, etc. in Europe and America used it exclusively. Since the 1980s, the scholarly community has switched over to pinyin almost completely.


Not sure why it's not spelled "Kong De Cheng", which is the official Mandarin (pinyin) spelling. With the tone marks (which indicate the changes in pitch as it's pronounced) it would be Kong3 De2 Cheng2.

[dr.grace]

Yes, of course you're right that two-character given names are nowadays usually not separated by a space (although I've seen them both ways.) I was just pointing out that, except for Taiwan, everybody uses Pinyin for romanization now.

[shudaizi]

Indeed. And I'm guessing that's why Noodler's uses this older romanization: K'ung lived on Taiwan after 1949. He followed the KMT there as it lost the mainland to the CCP and held a bunch of political-administrative posts, as well as a ceremonial position (as descendent of Confucius), for the ROC government. (He also taught in the Chinese and Anthropology departments of several universities.) It's respectful to the man and his politics not to use the mainland's romanization to "name" him. :) I follow the same logic in my own writing when I refer to the KMT (Kuomintang) instead of GMD (guomindang), because that's the romanization the organization uses for itself -- to use the mainland's pinyin is an assertion of symbolic sovereignty over people who reject that sovereignty (at least thus far).


Seems like an interesting ink, both for its inspiration and its properties. Thanks to the OP for the review!


Yes, of course you're right that two-character given names are nowadays usually not separated by a space (although I've seen them both ways.) I was just pointing out that, except for Taiwan, everybody uses Pinyin for romanization now.

[dr.grace]

OK, that makes sense.