(1) The purple brush is made of the hair on the back of the rabbit's neck, hence its name. The strength of rabbits in the north and south is also different, and some are made in the north and south. The tenacity of rabbits is called health brush, which is better than that of the north. It is long and sharp, suitable for writing straight Fang Zhengzhi characters, and is valued by calligraphers. Bai Juyi's "Purple Pen Yuefu Poetry" says: "Purple pen is like a cone and sharp as a knife." Describe the characteristics of Zihao pen very completely. However, because only the hair on the back of the rabbit's neck is available, it is expensive and heroic, so you can't write big characters on the plaque.
(2) The wolfsbane pen literally means made of wolfsbane. The previous generation did make pens with wolf hair; But today, the wolf's hair is weasel's hair, not wolf's hair. What Langhao saw was recorded very late, and some people used "mustache pen" as Langhao pen, so the use of Langhao can be pushed to before Wang Xizhi's Jin Dynasty, but it is not certain. Weasels can only use the tip of their tails as pens. They are tough by nature, second only to rabbits but too woolly, and they are also healthy pens. Disadvantages are similar to those of Zihao, not too big. The rat tail produced in Northeast China is the most common, and it is called "North Langhao" and "Guandong Liao Wei". Wolf hair is stronger than wool pen and suitable for writing and drawing, but it is not as durable as wool pen and more expensive. Common varieties are Zhu Lan, freehand brushwork, landscape, flowers, Ye Jin, costume patterns, red beans, small seiko, deer and wolf hair calligraphy and painting (made of wolf hair and deer hair), leopard and wolf hair (made of wolf hair and leopard hair), special long-peak wolf hair, super long-peak wolf hair and so on.
(3) Wool Wool is made of the beard or tail of a green sheep or antelope. Textual research began before the Northern and Southern Dynasties. By the Qin Dynasty, Meng Tian's improved new pen had become a pen-making material. Calligraphy is the most important thing, sheep are soft and have no front, and books are "weak and boneless", which are rarely used by calligraphers in past dynasties. Sheep hair became popular only after the Southern Song Dynasty. But it was widely used after the early Qing Dynasty. Because the Qing Dynasty paid attention to roundness and delicacy and was not allowed to show off talents, only soft wool could meet the requirements and was widely used at that time. The softness of wool is also poor. If it is properly combined with paper and ink, it can also show a plump and gentle style, and it is cheap and easy to get. Wool is so long that it can be written in large letters more than half a foot. Wool pen is soft in texture and absorbs a large amount of ink, which is suitable for writing with round and solid stippling. More durable than a wolf's brush. Most of these pens are lake pens, which are relatively cheap. Generally, there are big pens, Jingti (or pen lifting), Lianfeng, Feng Ping, Ding Feng, Gaifeng, flagpole, Jade Bamboo Shoots, Yulanrui and Jingzha.
(4) Double the number of brushes with two or more types, and name them according to their mixing ratio, such as three Ziqi sheep and five Ziwu sheep. Meng Tian's improved pen, with deer hair as the column and wool as the quilt, belongs to a double-stranded brush. Double double brush takes one more health value and one more softness value to match, with health value as the main factor, which is called "column". Gentleness is a bad habit, called "righteousness". No matter how long the column is, the quilt is also short. This is called a pen with a column and a quilt. The quilt also has many layers, such as rabbit hair as a column, short wool quilt, and three layers of * * * are the same length as the column, so the root is extra thick, the pen tip is thin, and more ink is stored, which is convenient for writing. The characteristics are different according to the mixing ratio, either rigid or soft, or moderate rigid and soft, and cheap and labor-saving, all of which are advantages.
In addition, there are pens made of chicken feathers, mountain horses, moustaches and bristles. In addition to the raw materials or uses, the brush is also labeled with elegant names, such as pure and clean, smooth beads, right army calligraphy and so on. Most of these pens are of good quality and moderate size, with dozens.
There are many kinds of brushes. Generally speaking, writing pens can be divided into three categories: soft pens, hard pens and gel pens. Soft pens, such as wool and chicken feathers. Hard pens include purple hair (rabbit hair), wolf hair, mouse hair and so on. Neutral (neither soft nor hard) pens are called "double brush", and there are two kinds: sheep purple and sheep wolf.