The writing brush used for writing couplets is generally not too big, about size 3.
Tips for choosing brushes:
The above three different pens, namely hard brush, soft brush and mixed brush, have different uses. Calligraphers before the Song Dynasty mostly used hard-point pens to write. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, calligraphers wrote larger and larger characters, and their pens also changed from hard-point pens to sheep-point pens. Because the hair is long, it is suitable for writing large characters in large strokes. Generally speaking, when writing running script and cursive script, it is easier to use a hard brush pen, which is convenient for writing and easy to gain momentum; when writing regular script, official script, and seal script, a soft brush pen is used, which is easy to moisturize and plump.
Of course this is not absolute. You can use a hard brush to write regular script, seal script, and official script, or you can use a brush to write cursive. Mr. Lin Sanzhi, a contemporary grass sage, uses a long-edge brush to write cursive script, which can be both strong and straight, yet flexible and connotative. Because the pen has a long tip and a large amount of ink, it can write several words with one dip of ink, and it is easy to express the continuous momentum between words and the changes in the density of ink.
And because the Changfeng Yanghao brush is soft and long, Cai Yong of the Eastern Han Dynasty said: "The soft brush makes it strange and lifeless." Therefore, it is easy to produce endlessly changing and unexpected artistic effects. However, the brushes are soft, especially the long-edge brushes. After pressing down, the pen falls apart and cannot bounce up, making it difficult to master.
At this time, it all depends on the writer's pen-handling skills to adjust the pen edge, and the hard pen is easier to use. Because of its high elasticity, when the pen is pressed down and then lifted up, the pen edge can return to its original consistency. It is in a state that it can rise and fall freely, which is quite handy. However, because the pen is relatively hard and extremely elastic, the strokes will appear too sharp and overgrown. This is the disadvantage of the hard pen.
In short, it is not easy to write strong and straight characters with a thin brush, and to write smooth and flexible characters with a hard brush.
For beginners, if you use a hard pen at the beginning, it will be easier to use the pen without much skill, because the pen will help you a lot, but over time, you can only use a hard pen. Once you pick up the pen, When the brush comes, I feel that I can't move even a single step.
On the contrary, if you use a brush to practice calligraphy when you first learn, although it is more difficult at the beginning and you have to use the method of lifting and changing the strokes to write qualified strokes, you will also learn to do so. The method of using the soft pen will gradually become more comfortable and easy to use as the practice time increases. At this time, if you pick up a pen to write, you will feel relaxed and comfortable.
The ancients also had a lot of experience in using pens. I think it is not easy to buy a good and expensive pen when you are a beginner, but I advocate using a bad pen, because if you can write good characters with a bad pen, your hand will become more comfortable and you can write better with a good pen.
On the contrary, if you use a good pen from the beginning, you will only be able to use good pens throughout your life. Once you encounter a bad pen, you will not be able to write well. Of course, you cannot use a bad pen to practice calligraphy, which will increase the difficulty for beginners. Ouyang Xun, the great calligrapher of the early Tang Dynasty, recorded that "no matter whether he chooses paper or pen, he will achieve his goals", which was highly praised by his contemporary Yu Shinan.