Chinese Writing and Calligraphy

Chapter Two: Writing Instruments and Training Procedures

20 chapter two Writing instruments and training Procedures This chapter lays out the preliminaries for training in Chinese brush writing. It introduces writing instruments, their history, how they are made, as well as how they are used. Preparations for writing, such as your state of mind, your writing space, your posture, and how to hold your brush are also discussed. The three most important factors in writing are identified: moisture, pressure, and the speed of the brush are of critical importance at all times when writing is taking place. tHe foUr treasUres in a CHinese stUDy Chinese calligraphers throughout history have created countless works of art; many have gained permanent recognition. However, Chinese writing would not have become an art without its unique tools. Indispensable to the process of artistic creation are the “four treasures in a Chinese study,” which are, in their proper order, brush pen (bĭ 筆), ink (mò 墨), paper (zhĭ 紙), and ink stone (yàn 硯). writing instruments and training procedures 21 THE BRUSH Among the four treasures, the Chinese writing brush plays the primary role in writing . The techniques of calligraphy are collectively referred to as “brushwork.” The most distinctive feature of the brush is its flexibility. The tuft is made of hair from such animals as goats, weasels, rabbits, and horses. Other animals that provide hair for brushes include badgers, foxes, chickens, cats, and deer. Different types of animal hair create varying degrees of firmness and softness, from the softest rabbit hair to the stiffest horse hair. In addition, the parts of the animal’s body from which the hair is taken and the season in which it is collected affect the quality of the brush. Whether to use a soft or a hard brush depends on the writing style and the skills of the writer. Beginners are usually advised to use a brush with either goat hair or mixed hair. The most commonly used types are the following. Goat hair is typically white and usually soft. Soft-hair brushes, although more difficult to control, allow more variation of strokes. Because they are also able to hold more ink, they are good for writing large characters. Weasel hair, usually brown, is known for its elasticity and resilience. Being stiff and hard, these brushes do not hold a large amount of ink and are usually used to write relatively small characters. Mixed hair is more versatile; one brush can be used for several different tasks. Each type of hair lends its own assets to the whole. For example, horse hair, because of its stiffness, does not hold together when wet. Thus a writing brush could have a core of stiff horse hair surrounded by soft, sticky goat hair to hold the bristles together. (See Figure 2.1). Brushes vary in both length and thickness, and brush size affects stroke size. The size of the brush one should use depends on the size of the characters to be written. For writing characters that are 1.5 to 2 square inches in size, for example, brushes with tufts that are 1 to 1.5 inches long are appropriate. If you plan to produce calligraphy pieces with inscriptions (written in characters smaller than those in the main text), you may want to have a smaller brush as well. Chinese writing brushes have four important qualities. Fineness. For maximum precision, the tip of the brush should be able to form a fine point that is extremely sensitive and pliable. Evenness. The Chinese writing brush has a unique structure in which the long hairs at the core serve as the spine and those of the outside layer are of the same length. In between are some shorter hairs so that ink will chinese writing and calligraphy 22 well up in the resulting pocket and be released when pressure is applied to the brush. The longer hairs, which are trimmed to an even length, should all meet at a point. During writing, these hairs hit the paper at the same time and distribute ink evenly. Roundness. The tuft of a Chinese calligraphy brush should be cone-shaped, full, and round, which enables it to move easily in all directions. Flexibility and resilience. The Chinese writing brush is flexible so that it can be used to produce strokes of various shapes and thicknesses. Compared to Western watercolor paintbrushes, Chinese writing brushes are usually stiffer. When the brush is lifted off the paper, its...