The first is the writing of dots. The ancients called a point a side, that is, it is not a positive potential but a side potential. When using a pen, it is written obliquely, with the nib to the left, the belly to the right, and the pen pressing the front to the right. It is shaped like a bird turning over and flying upwards (Figure 2). This only refers to the general writing, not all words with a central point must be written like this, but also depends on the different structures and writing methods of words.
For example, the central points of the words "Zhi", "Xin", "Jiao", "Zi" and "Chong" in Ou Yangxun's Jiuchenggong Liquan Inscription have different structures and different writing methods. The writing of the point here is the ancient people's aesthetic understanding of the general central point and its brushwork, such as the turn of a bird and the shape of a meteorite falling from the air.
The second is the writing method of horizontal painting. The ancients called horizontal writing "le", just like "pulling back from a cliff". That is to say, when writing, you have to walk backwards, then go down and run sideways to the right. When the pen stops, you have to pull it back to collect it. When running to the right, there should be an astringent taste, like "a thousand miles of clouds" (Figure 3).
However, due to the different handwriting styles of each calligrapher, although they all use this pen, due to the subtle changes in pouring, pressing, pausing and back front, different artistic effects appear when running to the right. If we compare the horizontal painting styles of Yan, Liu, Ou and Zhao, we can see the subtle changes of this style and the different styles resulting from it.
The third is the writing method of vertical painting. The ancients called vertical crossbows. The upper and lower heads of vertical paintings are curved and cannot be straight up and down. When carrying a pen, the pen goes up to the left, then to the right, and then down. When running downward, the pen holder naturally leans forward slightly due to the force, and stops returning to the front to collect the pen when collecting the pen. The strokes of vertical painting are both upward and downward, like the two ends of a crossbow, which leads to the contrarian trend, but there are two strokes of "hanging needle" and "hanging dew" when closing the pen.
The so-called "garter needle" pen refers to a garter needle. When the pen is closed, the tip of the pen keeps getting thinner and thinner, and when the pen is closed, the front is black like a needle tip. "Dew" is like dew when closing the pen, and it is slightly longer before pressing, and it is obvious after the front (Figure 4).