Brush is a unique tool for calligraphy and painting, and it has always been called "Four Treasures of the Study". The production of brush in Tanpeng Town, Linquan County began in Ming Dynasty, and is sometimes called "Ming Pen". According to legend, there was "Sheng Yuan Bizhuang" in the west of Tan Peng at the end of Ming Dynasty, and Li Wanzhong, a small wangzhuang in the east of Tan Peng, once opened a "Ming Dow Tangbi Store", which was passed down from generation to generation and was well done. Xu Guangjin, a calligrapher in Qing Dynasty, once praised: "Ming Dow Hall is the king of the pen." Because of its fine pen-making technology, it is well-known and sells well all over the country. Known as the "hometown of writing brushes", the most famous are Lintan Bizhuang and Wendetang Bizhuang.
Tan Pen produced by Lintan Bizhuang is famous for its advanced technology, pure and durable wool, flexibility and economy, and has been rated as the national excellent product for many times.
In recent years, Lintan Bizhuang's imitation "Tang Chicken Distance Pen" is very popular with calligraphy and painting exhibitions and international friends. This pen is very different from ordinary pens, with thick pen shaft, short nib, neat and full, sharp as bamboo shoots, chicken distance, even strokes, no fork, no hair removal, the hair tip written on paper, like an iron cone scraping sand, like a red claw stepping through the snow, full of pen power, like a jade bead, like a dragon and tiger leaping. The words in the book, like fat without meat, like thin without showing. As a calligrapher praised: "The combination of rigidity and softness is free to show, which is a wonderful work of calligraphy and painting!" . There are more than 100 varieties of tan pens, and the mid-range pens include Mohai Tengbo, Meijing, combining rigidity with softness, Rising Sun Red and so on. High-end pens include Xintangji Distance, Tan Bishenghui, Yurun Changshou, Super Stone Badger and so on. The largest pen is "Molong Dance", with a writing length of 30 cm, which can write 1 meter square.
Although there is no exact literature record about the origin of Linquan's brush technology, Li Wanzhong, a master of pen-making in the middle of Qing Dynasty, is a pen-making family. Because Li Wanzhong often shoulders his back, he goes to various markets to sell pens. He sprinkled blue ash on the wetland, grabbed the tarpaulin and sold the pen. Because of the blue gray on the ground, he was called "hanging gray" pen from now on. "Hanging hair ash" pen is famous for its good quality of brush.
When Cao Yu 14 was a master pen maker, he took two acres of land in his home as a "kneeling ceremony" (tuition), worshipped as a teacher, studied for five years, and got his true story before he started his career. Yangqiao Pen Factory was established in 1960, and is the factory director. In 1970s, there were four pen makers, namely Ming Dow Hall (Li Wanzhong's youngest son), who left the factory for various reasons. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, the spring breeze of reform spread all over the country, and Wendetang Gong Pen Factory was established, and Zhang Linde founded Lintan Bizhuang and yangqiao Brush Club.
On the basis of inheriting the tradition, Master Cao learned from others, improved and innovated, which made Wendetang's brush materials more extensive and the technology more exquisite. The "Eight-Pillar Brush" pioneered by Wendetang can be divided into eight parts, with one stroke for multiple purposes. There are also 100 kinds of other brushes made of yellow tail, goat hair, rabbit hair, badger hair and chicken feathers. Its finished brush, sharp, round and unique, is called "the treasure of the book world".
Linquan brush is well-known in the north and south of the river and overseas. Contemporary painters such as Zhao Puchu, Wu Zuoren, Han Meilin,,, Zhong, Mu, Gu Meiqin and Wu all spoke highly of Lin Quan's brushwork.
Linquan Brush is a precious gift given to Comrade Deng Xiaoping by the Anhui delegation during the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. It is now in the Beijing History Museum. The General Office of the State Council wrote another love letter. When Hong Kong returned to China, the relevant leaders presented the dragon pen specially made by Wendetang as a gift to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, which was highly praised by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and wrote a thank-you letter here.