In ancient times, it was called "Yu", which first appeared in Shang Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Shang inscriptions. It is shaped like holding a brush, which is the earliest writing represented by a pen.
Oracle Bone Inscriptions wrote on tortoise shells and animal bones more than 3000 years ago. This is the earliest written language discovered and used by China. Later, with the evolution of the times, fonts also evolved.
As early as 3000 years ago in Shang Dynasty, people in China mainly wrote with brush. Although we are now in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, data show that the characters used in Shang Dynasty are not Oracle Bone Inscriptions, but the same as those written on bamboo slips after Qin and Han Dynasties. It's just that writing materials such as bamboo slips and wood chips can't be preserved for a long time, so the words on tortoise shells and animal bones, that is, Oracle Bone Inscriptions, were preserved, which witnessed the existence of the Shang Dynasty.
According to Records of Historical Records, Qin Shihuang ordered Prince Fu Su and Meng Tian to build the Great Wall to defend the Huns, and Meng Tian took rabbit hair from the mountain to make pens. The Natural History also said that General Qin Mengtian took fox hair as the pillar and rabbit hair as the book. The Four Books of the Study also records who invented the writing brush. In the past, Meng Tian used rubbings as cylinders, deer hair as columns, and rabbit hair as pens, which was called Cang Hao Ye. Therefore, Shuihoudian in Hebei Province and Shanlian in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, known as the hometown of writing brushes, celebrate Meng Tianzao's writing brushes by drinking jiaozi on the third day of the third lunar month every year.
During the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, bamboo slips were completely replaced by paper and silks as writing materials, but high stools and high tables were not popular. The writing method is just like that in ancient painting, with pen in one hand and paper in the other, and writing with two fingers and one hook (similar to the hard pen method that people hold today). Therefore, the pen is required to be waist-high, and the manufacturing technology of the brush is adjusted and improved accordingly. Healthy, hard and short-cut intentional pens began to appear to adapt to the new situation, and Dan Wei's Pen Workshop and Wang Xizhi's Pen Classic came out one after another. Xuanzhou has become an important pen-making center, and the purple brush made of rabbit hair is famous for its sharp nib.
Since the Yuan Dynasty, the pen-making industry centered on Huzhou has become increasingly prosperous. Among them, the most distinctive one is the "Hu Bi" written by Shanlian, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province. Its characteristics of "sharp, neat, round and healthy" directly make "Hu Bi" the most famous brush variety in China.
Different times have different brush cultures. Although the brush is no longer practical now, and the emergence of better ballpoint pens and pens makes people give up the use of the brush, but the brush is really irreplaceable.
Now calligraphy has become a hobby of many people, and people are unfamiliar with some ancient Chinese characters. The brush fonts brought by mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices symbolically dilute people's love for brush.
But when holding the pen, feel the dynamic process of full absorption of ink from the tip to the root of the pen, and then determine the appropriate amount of ink and remove it along the edge of the inkstone. When creating, I feel the brush sliding at my fingertips, looking at the words that are ready to go and magnificent. The feeling at that moment is irreplaceable by other pens. I hope you can regain this treasure that has contributed to the world art treasure house, and don't lose yourself because of life in the fast food era. When you calm down, write a proud article or two with a brush, and guard your initial silence in an impetuous society, you may have unexpected gains.