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Chinese brush can be traced back at least 6,000 years. It represents one of the four treasures of study, which also include paper, ink and ink stone. It was said that the brush was invented by Meng Tian, a general under the First Emperof of Qin (259 -21 B.C.), long time in command of the troops stationed along the Great Wall. Once he happened to see a tuft of sheep’s wool stuck on the wall. Taking it down and tying it on a stick, he made the first writing brush. However, Archaeological finds it was not the truth. Traces on the painted pottery unearthed at the ruins of the Neolithic site of Banpo Village near Xi’an show that the brush in its crude, primitive form was used 6,000 years ago. But people still called Meng Tain, who may have improved upon the brush -the originator of the writing tool. Shanlian Township in Wuxing County, Zhejiang Province -dubbed the “metropolis of the writing brush” -is also known as Mengxi (Meng’s Stream) in memory of Meng Tian. The brushes produced at the township, which used to be under the Huzhou Prefecture in the old days, are called Hubi (Huzhou brushes) and supposed to be the best in the country.
A brush comprises two parts: the head and shaft. The head is made of goat, wolf, rat or rabbit hair, which is softer than bamboo, a pencil, quill or ballpoint pen. The shaft is made of bamboo, wood, lacquer and porcelain, as well as some precious materials, including mother-of-pearl inlays, ivory and jade.
Without the writing brush, Chinese painting and calligraphy could not have achieved such distinct features, and thus would not have enjoyed such great success around the world. The writing brush makes great contributions to the dissemination of Chinese culture. With the development of social economy and culture, craftsmanship is continually improving, and the types of writing brushes are on the rise
The Chinese writing brush can be divided into four types:
Type one: Hu Writing Brush
Hu Writing Brush was produced in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province. It was renowned as “king of writing brushes”, used to be supplied to the imperial court. They were also a necessary item on the desks of men to write letters or other kind of writings. After the brush was made, dipped into the Chinese ink, the Hu brush may follow the maneuvers of the writer’s hand to produce a variety of strokes -dark or light, wet and solid or half dry and hollow -fro different effects in the writing or painting. The workmanship of the brush is exquisite and complicated since it contains more than 120 processes -- from selecting materials to the finished products.
The Huzhou writing brush falls into four categories:
1. Made of goat hair, which is very flexible.
2. Made of brownish rabbit hair;
3. Made of stiff weasel hair;
4. The fourth is a mixture of goat and weasel hair.
First -grade Hu brushes must meet four requirements: a sharp tip, neat hair arrangement, rounded shape and great resilience. Their making involves more than 70 steps of careful work. For instance, the preparation of the material along means that the hairs of a goat or hare must be sorted out into dozens of bunches according to thickness, length, and softness or stiffness. Then hairs of different specifications are used to make different brushes meant for different uses. Now Hu brushes are produced in more than 200 varieties
Type two: The Xuan Writing Brush
The Xuan writing brush, together with the famous Xuan paper, is made in Jingxian County, Anhui Province. In ancient times, Jingxian County was under the jurisdiction of Xuanzhou Prefecture, where the product got its name. The Xuan paper is praised as the “King of all Papers” and is supposed to “last a thousand years”. This is because it is white as alabaster, soft and firm, resistant to ageing and worms. It absorbs but does not spread the ink form the brush, which goes over it with a feel neither too smooth nor too rough. Because of their high qualities, the Xuan Paper is not only used for painting and calligraphy, it is increasingly used nowadays for diplomatic notes, important archives and other documents. In addition, it may also be used for blotting, filtering and moisture-proof purposes. Scholars of the Jin Dynasty (256-420) were especially fond of the Xuan brush. During the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties, Xuanzhou became a writing-brush manufacturing center, and the Xuan brush was listed as a tribute to emperors.
Type three: The Daiyuexuan Writing Brush
This writing brush was originally made by the venerable artisan Dai Yuexuan. Now, the brush is well known in Beijing for its high quality and elaborate craftsmanship. With the semi-manufactured writing brushes from Huzhou of Zhejiang Province as the main material, artisans used their immense skills to create a high quality writing tool. This brush has four characteristics: sharp point, neat cut, a smooth roundness and graceful stiffness at the tip. Dai actually worked for a writing-brush workshop located by the east entrance to the Liulichang Cultural Street in Beijing 80 years ago. His brushes were much better than the brand from Huzhou, even though the same materials were used. Later on, the Daiyuexuan brand became renowned far and wide.
Type four: the Houdian Writing Brush
The Houdian Writing Brush was produced in Houdian Village. The manufacture of writing brushes came into existence in Houdian Village of Shandong Province during the reign of Emperor Yongle around 1404 of the Ming Dynasty, and flourished in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). In the early years of the Republic of China, almost all brushes sold at Beijing's famous Daiyuexuan and Hukaiwen stores were made by workers from Houdian. In 1952, the Houdian people built a large plant to pass on the traditional craftsmanship to the younger generation and to develop it. The main materials for the brush come from animals' tails, such the wolf and civet, or ox ear hair, in more than 40 varieties. Hair collected in the winter is best for making high-quality brushes. There have five main procedures to produce the brush correctly: washing and dying of the hair, carving characters on the shafts, packaging, and miscellaneous processes. Each of the five procedures contains about a dozen processes before a uniquely shaped brush with a special specification is made for different purposes. Brushes made at Houdian Village are durable, offering a good combination of flexibility and stiffness, the ability to absorb more ink than others, and with little likelihood that the hair will out.
How to Choose Writing Brushes
Chinese writing brushes are usually categorized according to various grades of flexibility or stiffness. Brushes made of rabbit, deer, weasel and rat hair are stiff, and those made of goat hair and chicken feathers look more flexible. If one wants a brush neither too flexible nor too stiff, the best choice is one made from a mixture of rabbit and goat hair, or a mixture of goat and weasel hair. There are three combinations: 70 percent rabbit hair and 30 percent goat hair, the same proportions in reverse, or equal proportion.
Generally speaking, people who are used to brushes with flexible features can write with facility using a stiff brush, while whose used to a stiff brush will find it hard to write freely by using one with flexible features for a change. For beginners to practice Chinese calligraphy, it is best to use brushes with flexible features or those neither too flexible nor too stiff. The weakness of the latter is that users cannot write regular script of large characters, let alone copy models of calligraphy by Yan Zhenqing, a celebrated Tang Dynasty calligrapher.
Good-quality brushes, as noted earlier, should be sharp-pointed, smoothly round, neatly cut and stiff at the tip. More specifically, the brushes are more like tender bamboo shoots when,having absorbed enough ink; the tip is very neat when being twisted by the fingers; the hair won't bend to the shaft, but naturally falls down when the wet tip goes around a thumb several times. Usually, the longer the tip of a brush, the more elastic strength it possesses. It does not mean the longer the tip of a brush, the more elastic strength it possesses. It does not mean the longer the hair of a brush, the better it is. When a brush shows a long and semi-transparent tip in the sunshine, it can be considered as being of good quality.