The tools and materials of Chinese calligraphy are basically composed of pen, ink, paper and inkstone. People usually call them the "Four Treasures of the Study", which roughly means that they are the four essential items in a scholar's study. A treasure. Because basically all ancient Chinese literati could write, draw, or both, and they could not do without these four treasures: pen, ink, paper, and inkstone.
The name "study room" originated from the Southern and Northern Dynasties period in Chinese history (420-589 AD). It specifically refers to the study room of literati. Pens, ink, paper and inkstones are used in the study room. It is known as the "Four Treasures of the Study". In addition to the Four Treasures, the writing utensils include pen holders, pen holders, ink beds, ink cartridges, armrests, pen washers, bookweights, water bottles, water spoons, inkstone drops, inkstone boxes, ink pads, printing boxes, cutters, stamps, Scrolls, etc. are also essential items in the study. Most of the Four Treasures of the Study collected by the Palace Museum were made by famous masters of the Qing Dynasty and used by the royal family. Their exquisite materials and exquisite craftsmanship represent the development level of study utensils in my country over thousands of years and the creative wisdom and artistic talent of skilled craftsmen. They are important study utensils. The treasure in.
Among all kinds of pen products, writing brushes can be regarded as a unique category in China. The traditional writing brush is not only a necessary study tool for the ancients, but also has a unique charm in expressing the special charm of Chinese calligraphy and painting. However, because brushes are fragile and difficult to preserve, there are very few ancient brushes that have been handed down to this day.
There are many varieties of ancient brushes. In terms of raw materials, they include rabbit hair, white wool, green wool, yellow wool, sheep whiskers, horse hair, deer hair, musk hair, and badger hair. , raccoon hair, mink hair, rat whiskers, rat tail, tiger hair, wolf tail, fox hair, otter hair, orangutan hair, goose feather, duck feather, chicken feather, pheasant hair, pig hair, fetal hair, human whiskers, thatch, etc. In terms of performance, there are hard, soft, and both. According to the texture of the pen barrel, there are water bamboo, chicken bamboo, spotted bamboo, palm bamboo, purple wood, chicken wing wood, sandalwood, nanmu, rosewood, Kuangxiang wood, carved lacquer, green lacquer, snail, ivory, Rhino horn, ox horn, lin horn, tortoise shell, jade, crystal, glass, gold, silver, porcelain, etc., many of them are precious materials.
Brush
The earliest writing brush can be traced back to more than 2,000 years ago. Although no actual writing brush has been seen since the Western Zhou Dynasty and above, some signs of the use of writing brushes can be found in prehistoric painted pottery patterns and oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang Dynasty. In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, brushes were widely used to write on bamboo slips and silk. A writing brush from the Spring and Autumn Period was discovered in the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Leigudun, Suizhou City, Hubei Province. It is the earliest brush discovered so far. Later, the Warring States Period pens unearthed from Zuojiagang Mountain in Changsha City, Hunan Province, the Qin Dynasty pens unearthed from Shuihudi in Yunmeng County, Hubei Province, and Fangmatan in Tianshui City, Gansu Province, as well as Mawangdui, Changsha, Fenghuang Mountain, Jiangling County, Hubei Province, The Han brushes from Wuwei City in Gansu Province, Xuanquanzhi and Maquanwan in Dunhuang City, the ancient Juyan area in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the Western Jin Dynasty brushes from Wuwei are all rare and precious materials left over from the ancient times.
Ink
It seems to be a bit monotonous, but it is an indispensable item in ancient writing. With the help of this original material, the fantastic and wonderful artistic conception of Chinese calligraphy and painting can be realized. The world of Mo is not boring, but rich in content. As a consumable product, it should be very precious if ink can be presented intact today.
Before the invention of artificial ink, natural or semi-natural ink was generally used as writing materials. Prehistoric painted pottery patterns, oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, bamboo and wood slips, silk calligraphy and painting, etc., leave traces of the original use of ink everywhere. Documents record that ink was also used in ancient ink punishment (tattooing), ink rope (used in carpentry), and ink turtle (divination). After this long process, in the Han Dynasty, artificial ink products finally began to appear. The raw material of this ink is taken from pine tobacco. It was first kneaded by hand and later molded. The ink is solid. According to the record of "Han Guan Yi" by Ying Shao of the Eastern Han Dynasty: "Shang Shu Ling, Pu, Cheng and Lang, gave Yu Mi a big ink and a small ink to Yu Mi." Yu Mi was located in Qianyang County, Shaanxi Province today, near the end of the month. Nanshan has many pine trees on the right side of the mountain and is extremely famous for the smoke material used to make ink.
From the making of cigarette materials to the final product, there are multiple processes such as glue filling, mixing, steaming and pestle, and there is also a molding process.
The carving of ink molds is an important process and an artistic creative process. The shapes of ink are roughly square, rectangular, round, elliptical, irregular, etc. The ink mold is generally composed of six pieces: front, back, upper, lower, left and right. A round or idol-shaped ink mold only needs four or two plates. Built-in ink, close the hammer tightly to smash the finished product. The logo is mostly engraved on the side so that it can be easily replaced when the ink mold is reused. The appearance of ink is diverse and can be divided into natural ink, lacquered ink, gold rinse ink and lacquered edge ink.
Paper
It is one of the four great inventions in ancient China and has made outstanding contributions to the spread of culture in history. Even today when machine-made paper is prevalent, certain traditional handmade papers still play an irreplaceable role and shine with their unique brilliance. The appearance of ancient paper can still be seen in the ancient calligraphy and paintings that have been handed down.
For a long time before the invention of paper, what did people use as note-taking materials? According to literature and physical data, the earliest people used knotted ropes to remember events. When something happened, tie a knot and the matter would be solved. Later, inscriptions were inscribed on turtle shells and animal bones, so-called "oracle bone inscriptions". After the creation of bronze, inscriptions were engraved on bronze vessels, namely "inscriptions in gold" or "inscriptions on bells and tripods". Later, the words were written on pieces of bamboo or wood, which were called "bamboo slips", and thicker bamboo slips were called "slips". At the same time, some are also written on silk products. Before the pre-Qin Dynasty, in addition to the above record materials, texts carved on stones were also found, such as the famous "Stone Drum Inscriptions".
As everyone knows, paper was invented by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, archaeological excavations in recent years have raised questions about this. With the progress of archaeological work along the Northwest Silk Road, many Western Han Dynasty sites and tombs have been discovered, including paper relics. These right papers are named according to the place where they were unearthed.
From the chronological order of the ancient papers unearthed so far, they can be arranged as follows: Fangmatan paper in the early Western Han Dynasty, Baqiao paper, Xuanquan paper, Maquanwan paper and Juyan paper in the middle Western Han Dynasty. Dry beach slope paper in the late Western Han Dynasty. Not only are these papers earlier than Cai Lun paper, but some of them also have ink marks on them, indicating that they have been used for writing documents.
Inkstone