Four Treasures of the Study, pen first. China's brush is a unique writing tool. The reed pen in ancient Egypt and the feather pen in Europe have long since withdrawn from the historical stage, and the writing brush has a long history and flourished to this day, which shows its strong vitality.
When it comes to writing brush, people often think of the story of "Meng Tian made a pen" and think that Meng Tian, a famous doctor in Qin Dynasty, was the inventor of writing brush. Actually, it's not. "Peaceful Magnolia" quoted "Natural History" as saying: "Meng Tian made pens." Cui Bao also said in Notes on Ancient and Modern Times. "Since the beginning of Montaigne, namely the Qin pen ear. Take dead wood as the pipe, deer hair as the column and wool as the quilt. The so-called Cang Hao is not a bamboo tube of rabbits. " In the Tang Dynasty, Han Yu's Biography of Mao Ying was personified with a pen, in which it was mentioned that Meng Tian attacked Zhongshan, captured Mao Ying, was prized by Qin Shihuang, and named Mao Ying "Guan". Later generations took Heguan as their pen name. This matter is also related to Meng Tian.
Some people question the saying that "Meng Tian made pens". Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi in the Eastern Han Dynasty said: Qin refers to the pen, "Chu refers to Yu, Wu refers to injustice, and Yan refers to Fu". There is no "pen" in pre-Qin books, and the word "Yu" appeared as early as the Shang Dynasty, but Qin Shihuang only unified the name of pen, indicating that there was a pen before the pre-Qin period. Zhao Yi, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, wrote in the article "Writing doesn't start in Montaigne" in the Language Series Examination: "Writing doesn't start in Montaigne. Or for the field, it is better than the predecessors, so it is good. " It seems that this comment is well founded.
The cultural relics unearthed after liberation prove this point even more. 1954, Chinese archaeologists excavated a writing brush with a length of about 2 1 cm and a diameter of 0.4 cm in a tomb of the Warring States period in Youjiagongshan, Changsha, Hunan Province. This pen is similar to the brush used now. The nib is made of high-quality arrow-free hair, the hair length is 2.5 cm, and the pen holder is also made of bamboo tube. The difference is that the pen tip is not inserted in the bamboo pole sleeve, but is sandwiched by the split bamboo pole head, wrapped with silk thread and drawn. This Warring States writing brush, which has been buried underground for more than 2,000 years, is considered to be the earliest writing brush found in China so far. Known as the "Warring States Writing Brush". Because Changsha belonged to the State of Chu in ancient times, the world's oldest brush is also called "Chu Pen".
Is Warring States Pen the earliest writing brush? It is also a question mark. It is estimated that the brush appeared in the Neolithic Emperor Yan and the Yellow Emperor in China. Zhang Hua's "Natural History" also has a record of "making a pen in order". In addition, many animal patterns and geometric patterns painted on the surface of painted pottery were found in the Yangshao cultural site unearthed. Obviously, there are traces of writing with a brush. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions of Shang Dynasty, traces of writing brush also appeared. According to "Xue Shang Bian Shi in Ancient Days", there are several words written with a brush on the three cow sheaths unearthed in Yin Ruins, and some tortoise shell pieces, and some engraved words can be seen, with traces of Zhu Tumo left on them. Moreover, there were quite a number of "Yu" characters in Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Shang Dynasty, so it can be concluded that China had already used a brush before Shang Dynasty, and now most literary circles hold this view.
Brush has experienced a long evolution period. In addition to the above mentioned, the alias of the brush is "Guanchengzi". Mao awl, Zhong Shujun, Mao Yingjun, Dragon, Jiannu, etc. To sum up, although Meng Tian can't get the patent right of writing brush, his pen is better than the previous one, which has contributed to the reform of writing brush.
The development of Chinese brush has two important periods: the first period is "Xu Anbi" period. According to official records, Xu Anbi was invented in the Han Dynasty, and the development of calligraphy in Wei and Jin Dynasties promoted the continuous progress of writing brush technology. Chen Xuanzhou's pen in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was highly praised by Wang Xizhi and others. In the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzhou became the center of pen-making in China. At this time, the Xuan pen, whether it is the production skills, or the selection of materials, or the carving art of the pen holder, has been improved day by day. Liu Gongquan, Ouyang Xiu, Mei, Su Dongpo and others spoke highly of Xuan Pen. Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in a poem praising Xu Anbi: "Every year, writing in Xuancheng is as expensive as gold." Xu Anbi was regarded as a "tribute" and "imperial pen" in the Tang Dynasty. According to the Records of Geography of Old Tang Dynasty, in the second year of Tang Tianbao (743), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty went upstairs and saw the specialties of Xintan and dozens of counties in the south, and arranged them downstairs, including pens from Xuancheng County. Fan Wenlan also said in the General History of China that when Emperor Taizong and Li Shimin chose tributes all over the country, Four Treasures of the Study such as Xu Anbi was the first choice.
The Southern Song Dynasty moved its capital to Hangzhou, and the political, economic and cultural center at that time moved to Jiangnan. Since the Yuan Dynasty, China's brush has entered the second period-"Hu Bi". Tiger skin, known as "the best in the world", was originally from Shanlian Town, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province. In ancient times, Shanlian belonged to Huzhou Prefecture, so the brush produced here was called Hubi, and Shanlian was also called "Pen Capital". Tiger skin, Huizhou ink, Guangdong inkstone and rice paper are also called "Four Treasures of the Study". Shanlian is located in Hangjiahu Plain, 70 miles southeast of Huzhou, where rivers and lakes are vertical and horizontal, mulberry trees and bamboo are green, and it is a beautiful place. "Huzhou Fuzhi" records: "Huzhou wrote and wrote on the sea, and the author was the Lakers. Its place name is Shanlian Village, there are mountains in the village, and there are pagodas on the top of the mountain, which stand out like pens. "
According to legend, Meng Tian used to take wool to make pens in Shanlian village, and was regarded as the originator of pen making in the local area. It is also said that Meng Tian's wife Bu Xianglian is a native of Shanlian Xibao, and she is also proficient in the art of pen making, so she is called the "Queen of Pen". Meng Tian and his wife taught the villagers pen-making techniques. In memory of them, local pen makers built a Meng Gong Temple in the west of the village. The river around the village was renamed Meng Xi, and Meng Xi became another name for Shanlian. According to legend, the birthdays of Meng Tian and Bu Xianglian are March 16 and September 16 of the lunar calendar respectively, and the villagers will hold a grand temple fair to worship the gods in memory of their pen ancestors. In the Yuan Dynasty, Hu Pen replaced Xuan Pen, Huzhou became the national pen-making center, and famous pen-making teachers such as Feng Yingke, Wu Sheng, Lu Zhen, Shen Xiurong and Pan appeared. At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Shanlian Lake Pen gradually spread abroad, and Shanlian people opened a number of famous pen shops in various places, such as Gu and He Lianqing in Beijing, Zhou Huchen, Li Dinghe in Shanghai, and Bei Songquan and Lu in Suzhou.
In the history of our country, in addition to Xu Anbi and Hu Bi, the "Song Bi" in Leshan, Sichuan is worth mentioning. Leshan, called "history" in ancient times, is said that Su Dongpo, a great writer and calligrapher in the Northern Song Dynasty, once visited Lingyun Mountain. At that time, a new pavilion was built here, and the monk took out a large pen made locally and asked Su Dongpo to name the pavilion. Su Dongpo splashed ink and happily wrote the word "Yin Qing Pavilion", and everyone applauded. Su Dongpo and others say that my handwriting is not good, but this pen is good. Soon, another great calligrapher and poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, Huang Tingjian, also visited history and wrote the word "Fang Xiang Dong" in a big hand. Su He is both a master. After this inscription, people are competing to improve their calligraphy, and they are used to writing and drawing with two pens. Later generations jokingly called the brush of history "Song Pen". The "Song Pen" of the dry year has been passed down to this day. 1937, the famous painter Xu Beihong wrote a eulogy that "the famous pen is made in history, and the craft is southwest".
There are two traditional methods of making brush: Zhuge method and Wei Shou method. Zhuge Fa is also called cursive script. Ye Songmeng's "Xia Lu" cloud; "Xuanzhou, since Tang Wei, ZhuGeShi has been handed down. I was a Zhuge writer before Zhiping and Jiayou, and I thought it was a treasure. " The original Zhuge Fa is the crystallization of pen-making technology in Xu Anbi's period. It originated from Wang Xizhi's Bi Jing and also included the contributions of pen makers named Zhuge in Xuanzhou, such as Zhuge Gao, Zhuge Yuan, Zhuge Xin and Zhuge Feng. Ouyang Xiu once praised: "Yue Zhuge Gao, the world industry does not lose money." Tight heart and long hair, three payments are quite accurate. Soft and hard are suitable for people, and a hundred tubes are not bad. "
Wei Zhushou method was invented by Wei Zhushou. Dan Wei, born in Ren Wei, Three Kingdoms, is a literary genius, good at writing articles, good at making pen and ink, and the author of Fang Bi. Its method is made of two different animal hairs, and the solid one is a pillar; Soft is the quilt, and this pen-making method has been used to this day.
The writing brush is one of the symbols of China culture, but many royal nobles in history like to use it as a symbol to show their power. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties, gold and silver were used as pens, that is, bamboo poles were used, fine bamboo was selected, and precious decorations such as ivory, jade and perfume were inlaid to show off. It was not until the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty that the luxurious pen of gold, silver and jade carvings gradually disappeared.
There are many kinds of hair used to make pens, such as rabbit hair, mountain rabbit hair, otter hair, pig hair, deer hair, horse mane, wool, wolf hair, chicken hair, mouse hair and so on. Even people's beards can be used to make pens. According to the Records of the Ridge Table, there was no exemption in Lingnan, and a county magistrate gave a pen maker a piece of exemption skin to make a pen. The pen maker got drunk and lost the rabbit skin. He was afraid of being punished, so he cut off his beard to make a pen. Who knows that the pen made is very good, so I ordered him to make another one. The penholder had no choice but to tell the truth, and the satrap ordered the old people in each household to cut off their beards for tax donation. In addition, there is a pen made of baby's fetal hair: "The fetal hair is outside the autumn, the green jade is newly planted, and it is tightly controlled." This is a poem written by a poet in the Tang Dynasty praising fetal writing brush.