At that time, the most important or even the only way to manage state affairs was to file documents, so every dynasty attached great importance to the processing and preservation of documents, which also provided good conditions for the development of writing brushes at that time.
During this period, the emperor's decentralization to Shangshu Province and Zhongshu Province, which were in charge of world politics, was also reflected in their emphasis on history books. It is precisely because of the importance of documents that the emperor constantly divided the power of Shangshu and Zhongshu, which made Shangshu Province gradually become the agency and Zhongshu Province's power moved down continuously. The number of historical books and commentaries edited in this period is rare in the history of China.
The Wei and Jin Dynasties witnessed the development of various calligraphy styles in the history of calligraphy in China. At the end of the Han Dynasty, after more than 60 years of tripartite confrontation, the Western Jin Dynasty was established, and calligraphy, as one of the social cultures, reached another peak.
China's calligraphy reached an unprecedented harvest season in Wei and Jin Dynasties. At that time, seal script, official script, cursive script, calligraphy and calligraphy were all available, each with its own portal. Official script has reached the end of stylization in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and regular script tends to be mature.
At this time, the pen is out of fashion, and the pen holder is getting shorter. Dan Wei, a scholar of Cao Wei, is very literary, eloquent and famous for his pen and ink. At that time, his pen was called Shan Wei Pen, and he also wrote a volume of Pen Classic.
Dan Wei's pen-making method also reflects the process and characteristics of pen-making in the Wei and Jin Dynasties of the Three Kingdoms. There are some anecdotes about Wei's birthday. Dan Wei was a native of Kyoto during the Cao Wei period, the son of a servant, and served as an official for a servant. Shan Wei studied under the calligraphy of Zhang Zhi and Han Danchun. He can write all kinds of calligraphy, especially inscriptions.
Built a LingYuntai, imperial edict Wei Shouchen title. When Dan Wei was writing, there was something wrong with his posture. Wei Mingdi tied Dan Wei with a thick rope and hung it on the stage where the plaque was hung. This place is right.
Dan Wei felt very dangerous and had abnormal fears. After this incident, he warned his descendants not to practice the method of block letters again. Shan Wei wrote Li Shu, Cao Zhang and Bai Fei with exquisite brushwork, and also wrote Xiao Zhuan. His brother Wei Kang also studies calligraphy, and his son Wei Xiong is also good at calligraphy. At that time, people said, "The son of a calligrapher will not have a second job." It can be seen that the whole world is praising Dan Wei and his son.
Wang Xizhi, a great calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, is also very familiar with the method of using a pen. He also wrote the Classic of Using a Pen. In his book, he thinks that the hair of the autumn rabbit should be used to make pens, because the autumn rabbit is fat, long and sharp, and only such hair can make a good pen. It can be seen that the selection of hair was very particular at that time and accumulated rich experience for later generations.
In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Xuancheng, Anhui Province produced a purple brush, which was refined from purple rabbit hair. Its nib is strong and durable, and it is famous all over the world. This exquisite brush not only met the needs of the deformation of Chinese strokes and the development of painting techniques at that time, but also promoted the development of painting and calligraphy techniques.
At the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, fetal writing brush appeared. According to Duan, a famous eccentric novelist in the Tang Dynasty, in Youyang Miscellanies, the brush used by Xiao Ziyun, a historian and writer in the Southern Dynasties, often used fetal hair as the refill. It can be seen that the appearance of ancient fetal writing brush should not be later than the Six Dynasties.
In short, during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, both the records of Shangshu Province and Zhongshu Province and the calligraphy art expressed by calligraphers increased the use of pens, thus promoting the further development of the pen-making industry.