The origin of sheep hair brush

According to legend, the brush used now was originally created by Meng Tian, the general who supervised the construction of the Great Wall in Wan Li in the Qin Dynasty. But in fact, the invention right of writing brush can't be attributed to Meng Tian alone.

1954, a complete set of writing tools was unearthed in an ancient tomb in Zuojiagongshan, Changsha, Hunan. This proves that there were so-called writing brushes before Meng Tian.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, princes were heroes. At this time, countries have different names for writing brushes. Wu (now Jiangsu) is called "Liu" and Yan (now Hubei) is called "Bamboo". After Qin Shihuang unified China, they were both called "writing brushes".

The brush is made of animal hair tied to the nib and then glued to the tubular pen holder. A good brush should have the characteristics of "sharp, neat, round and healthy". "Tip" is a fingertip pen; "Qi" means neatly trimmed; "Circle" refers to circular writing; "Jian" means that the brush is elastic, and the words written are sharp and healthy.

The most famous pen in China is Hu Pen. It is light and durable, and is known as "the best in the world". Hu Bi's origin is Shanlian Town, Xing Wu County, Zhejiang Province.

There are more than 200 kinds of brushes. According to different raw materials, it can be divided into wool quilt, double wool quilt, purple wool quilt and wolf wool quilt. Some brushes are made of two kinds of animal hair, for example, double-stranded brushes are made of rabbit hair and wool; According to the ratio of two kinds of wool, purple sheep wool includes "seven purple three sheep" and "five purple five sheep". There is also a kind of purple wolf hair made of rabbit hair and weasel hair. Purple sheep hair is softer than purple wolf hair, and the hardness of sheep wolf hair is between the two. Double-thread brush is generally suitable for beginners to practice calligraphy.

In addition, the size of brushes is also different. The biggest one is called Hawthorn Pen, the pen holder is thicker than the bowl mouth, and it weighs dozens of pounds. Followed by buckets and banners; Then big letters, middle letters (inch letters) and small letters. The smallest one is "ghost ratio". Beginners can write big words in capital letters and small words in lowercase letters.

Sheep hair is made from the hair or tail hair of green sheep or antelope. Textual research began before the Northern and Southern Dynasties. By the time of the Qin Dynasty, Meng Tian's improved new pen had become a pen-making material. Calligraphy is the most important thing, sheep are soft and have no front, and books are "weak and boneless", so calligraphers in past dynasties rarely use them. Sheep hair became popular only after the Southern Song Dynasty. But it was widely used after the early Qing Dynasty. Because the Qing Dynasty paid attention to roundness and delicacy and was not allowed to show off its talents, only soft wool met the requirements at that time and was widely used. The softness of wool is also poor. If it is properly combined with paper and ink, it can also show a plump and gentle style, and it is cheap and easy to get. Wool is so long that it can be written in large letters over half a foot.

Using Baishan wool as raw material, the varieties and specifications of goat wool are strictly classified. It should be carefully selected and matched according to different producing areas, seasons and age groups, as well as the grade, thickness, softness and the length of the front edge of different parts of the sheep. Nowadays, many people call a pen with long hair a long leading edge pen. In fact, a pen with long leading edge is a long leading edge pen (also called a deep leading edge pen). A pen with a long nib can only be called a long brush or a long brush. The price of Baishan wool varies greatly, and the real long-front and deep-front wool pens are not cheap.

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Sharp: When the pens are gathered together, the ends should be sharp. The pen tip is easy to write and express. Writers often refer to their pens as "bald pens", but if they are not sharp, they will become bald pens and lose their spirit when making books. When buying a new pen, the hair is bonded and polymerized, which is easy to distinguish. When checking an old pen, first wet the pen and collect hair, and then you can distinguish sharp baldness. Qi: refers to the nib of a pen after it is flattened with water. If the brush is neat, the length of the brush is equal at ordinary times, and there is no gap, then it is "10 thousand Li Qi" when writing. Because the pen needs to be completely wetted, it is more difficult to check this when buying. Round: it means that the pen is as perfect as a jujube pit, which means that the hair is sufficient. If you have enough hair, you can write with enough pen power, otherwise you will be thin and lack pen power. The pen is perfect, and it can turn. When shopping, there is glue in your hair. Is it perfect? Take a closer look and you will know. Health: the elasticity of the pen waist; Press hard, lift the pen, and then return to its original state. If the pen is flexible, it can be used freely; Generally speaking, rabbit hair and wolf hair are more elastic than wool, and books are strong and firm. In this regard, press the pen after moistening, and the front is straight and healthy.