Inkstones, together with ink, paper and the brush form the 'Four Treasures' of the scholar's desk. The inscription is an analogy of the moon scattering its luminescence so as to enable to provide a clarity that is similar to the inkstone being carved to provide a free movement for the brush. The inscription of the sealmark may read: Huixin Buyuan, 'Appreciation is not far'.

Cf. an identical inkstone inscribed with the same text, illustrated in Knowledge and Appreciation of Ancient Inksticks, Koboku no Chisiki to Kansho, p. 112, no. 94. For a she inkstone with a similar title in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, see Ancient Inkstones Illustrated in the Imperial Catalogue, no. 92.