A Study of “Four Treasures of Chinese Study” 1. Introduction
Traditional tools and materials of Chinese calligraphy are basically evolved from writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones, which are usually called as “Scholars’ Four Jewels”or the four treasures of Chinese study (See Pic.1). As most ancient Chinese scholars could write or draw, or manage both of the skills, they could not live without these four treasures. The name of “Chinese study” could be traced back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589) in Chinese history and especially means scholars’ studies. (Zhang et al, 2008) Writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones are used in study, therefore people praise the four objects as the four treasures of Chinese study. Except for the four treasures of Chinese study, study tools also include ink cartridges, ink and pen holders, pen rack beds, arm rests, writing brush washers, book towns, water scoops, inkstones, seal boxes, cutting knives, stamps,etc. (Zhang et al, 2008)
Pic.1 Four treasures of Chinese study.
Source: http://www.nipic.com/show/4/141/3814957k671a5671.html）
Till the Song Dynasty (960-1127), writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones have become the important writing and painting tools in the study, archaeology can
also prove it. For instance, in the tomb of Xu Jun of the Southern Song Dynasty in Fouzhou city, Fujian Province, researchers found the whole set of the four treasures of Chinese study as burial objects. (Zhang, 2004) Another example is that on the wall painting Zhang Wenzao’s family tomb in the Liao Dynasty in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, there are several images about the writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and inkstones. These facts present that the four treasures have gradually formed a broad social practical basis in such a long history and finally became a special word in the Song Dynasty. (Zhang et al, 2008)
In order to know and resume the relations between ancient writing and painting tools with the study and the scholars’ behavior, people should fully understand the main line of the development of calligraphy tools. This paper will make an in-depth historical research on the four treasures of Chinese study, analyze the historical development and characteristics of the four tools, besides, the author will also conduct a series of case studies of the most famous representatives in China and their advantages.
2.Writing brush
Pic.2 Writting Brushes
Source: http://stuweb.zjhzyg.net/2011/14/111419/images/bi3.jpg
Writing brush ranks the first of the four treasures of the study. It is said that it was invested by famous general Meng Tian of Qin Dynasty. Traditional writing brushes are not only the necessary stationary of ancient Chinese people, but also have extraordinary charm in expressing Chinese calligraphy and painting. (Zhang, 2004)However, as writing brushes are easy to be damaged, there is few ancient writing brushes conserved till now.
There are many kinds of writing brushes. In terms of the materials, many animals’hair are used such as rabbits, goats, deer, mice, tigers, gorillas, ducks, geese, chicken, pigs even humans.From the performance’s perspective, writing brushes can be classified into rigidity brush, flexible brush and doubled both brush. As for the material of barrel, different varieties of bamboos and wood, even crystal, horn, jade, gold, silver are used. (Zhang, 2004)
The most famous writing brush producing area in China is Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province. Writing brushes made in Huzhou is called Hu writing brush. Hu writing brushes are made of high quality materials with exquisite techniques. (He, 2008) The four major characteristics are \tip, uniform hair, perfect roundness and resilient to the touch. Hu writing brush has four types: goat hair, wolf hair, mixed hair and rabbit hair. According to the size, there are huge, big, middle and small. (Chen,2004)
Shen Zhaomin is a contemporary calligrapher from Huzhou, he is well-known her using a huge Hu writing brush to write calligraphy.He has devoted numerous effort practicing calligraphy for decades and does excellent in all kinds of calligraphies. In 2001, he used a special Hu writhing brush which was as heavy as 81.5kg, to write down the word “Hu writing brush”which had an area of around 600㎡，and got the Guinness World RecordsCertificate of Calligraphy with Huge Brush. On the closing ceremony of Doha Asian Games, he used a 25kg Hu writing brush to write down “Harmonious Asia”on four big yellow satin cloths. (See Pic.3) Although the performance only lasted six minutes, every second was astonishing. Master Shen represented the magic Chinese calligraphy to the whole world, which was a never forgettable scene of all audience. (He,2008)
Pic. 3 Shen Zhaomin is writing “harmonious Asian”in Chinese calligraphy using a
25kg Hu writing Brush, Doha Asian Olympic Games, 2005 Source: http://www.hzwenlian.cn/News_View.asp?NewsID=495
3. Ink stick
Ink brings people a relatively monotonous impression, however without this kind of unique material, the fantastic artistic conception of traditional Chinese calligraphy cannot be realized. Actually the world of ink has quite abundant connotation. Before the invention of artificial ink, people generally used natural ink as writing material.(Zeng,1993) On some prehistoric pottery, bamboo and wooden slips, there are signs of primitive ink.Till the Han Dynasty, artificial ink appeared. The raw materials came from turpentine soot and squeezed by hands or molded. Till the Wei, Jin, the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the quality of ink constantly improved. (Zhang, 2004)
Ink is divided into two types: pine-soot ink and oil-soot ink. Pint-soot ink is made of pine wood’s ash. The characteristics of it are black, low glossiness, light colloid, so it
is only suitable for writing. While the oil-soot ink is made from animal or plant oil. It usually has bright color and is perfect for traditional Chinese painting. The ink of Chinese painting is generally in the form of ink sticks. According to the uses of ink sticks there are common ink, tribute ink, royal ink, home-made ink, gift ink etc. (Zeng,1993)
Pic 4. The Hui Ink Stick
Source: http://finance.people.com.cn/GB/8215/54394/54397/3796434.html The Hui Ink Stick is the most famous ink stick product in China. Its was named after its production area ancient Huizhou. Today, Tunxi District and Xi County in Huangshan city, Anhui Province are the two manufacturing centers of Hui Ink Sticks.There are various types of Hui Ink Stick, such as paint-soot, oil-soot,net-soot, minus-glue, added-spice etc. The high class paint soot ink sticks are made from ten kinds of precious materials including Tung oil-soot, musk, borneol, gold foil and pearl powder. Hui Ink Sticks have the advantages of light weight, pleasant odor, hard quality, long-lasting effect etc, therefore, it has become calligraphers and painters’ necessary goods for hundreds of years. (See Pic 4)
文房四宝英文介绍(原创)
