The earliest was to use a knife or pen. Then comes the brush.
As early as the Yin and Shang Dynasties, there were words written on oracle bones with ink, but it is not certain whether the writing brush was used at that time. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, people already used brushes and ink to write.
The hairs on plants cannot be used, so animal hairs are used to make brush bristles.
Commonly used vellus hairs include wolf hair, rat hair, sheep hair, etc. Even today, artificial materials such as artificial fibers have become very popular, but there is still a reason why animal hair is still used to make pen bristles. First of all, the brush uses the capillary phenomenon to absorb ink. When you remove a piece of vellus hair, you can find that the surface of the vellus hair is rough, which further promotes capillary action. But today's man-made fibers and other materials have smooth surfaces and cannot absorb ink at all. Animal hair is easy to obtain and natural. The brushes are available in large, medium, and small letters. Different pens are used for drawing, writing, large characters, and small characters. The brushes made of animal hair are more natural to draw.