![]() Now, the brush is well known in Beijing for its high quality and elaborate craftsmanship. This writing brush was originally made by the venerable artisan Dai Yuexuan. The Xuan brushes, made elaborately from brownish rabbit hair, are considered to be the best and come at a very high price. Brushes were both sharp and neatly cut, and plump and smooth at the tip, enabling artists to write and draw freely. During the Tang (618-907 AD) and Song (960-1279AD) dynasties, Xuanzhou became a calligraphy brush manufacturing center, and the Xuan brush was listed as a tribute to emperors.Īt that time, folk artisans made a breakthrough in craftsmanship in selecting materials and polishing the shaft. Scholars of the Jin Dynasty (256-420 AD) were especially fond of the Xuan brush. In ancient times, Jingxian county was under the jurisdiction of Xuanzhou Prefecture, where the product got its name. The Xuan writing brush, together with the famous Xuan paper, is made in Jingxian county, Anhui province. It is therefore regarded as the best-quality brush and the most exquisite handicraft. The shaft of this type of brush is usually made of either red sandalwood or mottled bamboo, white porcelain or even with ivory. These brushes are especially handy both for painting and calligraphy. The workmanship of the brush is exquisite and complicated since it takes more than 120 processes to complete. The first is made of goat hair, which is very flexible the second, of brownish rabbit hair the third, of stiff weasel hair and the fourth is a mixture of goat and weasel hair, which is neither too flexible nor too stiff. The Huzhou writing brush falls into four categories. The Hu Writing Brush, produced in Huzhou city, Zhejiang province. There are four types of famous calligraphy brushes in China. The shaft is made of bamboo, wood, lacquer or porcelain, as well as some precious materials, including mother-of-pearl inlays, ivory and jade. The head is made of goat, wolf, rat or rabbit hair, which is softer than bamboo, a pencil, quill or ballpoint pen. This amendment made the brush easier to recieve ink, improving both the speed and quality of writing, as well as the portability of the brush.Ī calligraphy brush comprises of two parts: the head or brush tip and shaft. It shows that before the Qin Dynasty the head of the brush was bundled around the shaft with threads while afterwards the head was stuck into the cavity. For instance, in 1975, in No.169 Jiangling Tomb, Hubei province, a brush of early West Han Dynasty with cavity at one end was unearthed. Shown by the unveiled relics, in every past dynasty, since the Qin Dynasty the manufacture process of making a calligraphy brush has been in complete conformity. The brush unearthed in the tomb of Marquis Yi of the Zeng State in Hubei province is the earliest brush discovered so far. The history of the Chinese calligraphy brush can be traced back at least 6,000 years. This evidence suggests that the brush may have predated written language itself. Visible stains or brush marks clearly remain in certain places on the pottery. However, primitive painted pottery contains decorative designs painted by tools resembling a brush. Legend has it that the brush was invented by Meng Tian (? - 210 BC), a general under the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). The calligraphy brush has a long history in China. It represents one of the four treasures of study, which also include paper, ink and ink stone. Among the various calligraphic tools, the calligraphy brush is special to China.
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