[The author says]

　　The brush is the most important tool in traditional writing tools. Due to the changes of the times, today's public's understanding of it is becoming increasingly unfamiliar. Coupled with the tradition of "emphasizing the way and ignoring the instrument", the research and attention to the brush is insufficient.

The author has been devoted to the study of ancient Chinese brushes for many years, so the idea of ​​​​writing a book and writing a book to "rectify the name" of the brush was born.

Recently, the author's small book "Ancient Bi" was published by Zhonghua Book Company.

　　I thought it would be hard to find the sound of the book, but unexpectedly it got the attention of the media and invited me to briefly describe the historical and cultural connotations of the brush.

In fact, it is complicated and simple, but it is difficult to write.

Pen comes from painting

　　In a broad sense, after trimming a bunch of wool, the roots are tied or glued, and then inserted into the corresponding pen cavity, it should be regarded as a "writing brush".

Therefore, oil brushes, watercolor brushes used in Western painting, and even eyebrow pencils used by ladies can all be included in this category.

The narrow sense of "writing brush" refers to the creation of ancient Chinese.

Unlike the West, Chinese brushes are used for writing in addition to painting - this is the most crucial difference.

The daily use of the Chinese brush has made it the tool and the finishing touch of Chinese culture, and a broad and profound world of calligraphy art has been derived from it.

　　In the past, when discussing the origin of the brush, what I like to say most is that the Qin general Meng Tian made a brush, which means that in order to speed up the transmission of military intelligence, Meng Tian used red tassels dipped in dyed pigments to write instead of engraving documents with swords.

But the knowledgeable ancients did not necessarily believe such legends.

"Book of Rites, Quli" says: "The history contains the writing, and the scholar contains the words." The compiler of the Tang Dynasty class book "Chu Xue Ji" therefore believed that "there was a writing before the Qin Dynasty".

"Zhuangzi·Tian Zifang" records the story of Song Yuanjun "standing by the yawn, licking the pen and ink".

This is the documentary evidence that "there was a pen before Qin".

　　Since the oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty, Chinese characters have a history of more than 3,000 years.

The characters on the oracle bones are mostly written first and then engraved, which is much earlier than the time when the writing brush was identified in the above-mentioned literature.

But even so, it only shows that the Shang Dynasty brush has existed, and it is not the origin of the brush.

People like to associate the pen with writing, but ignore its origins with painting—in the painted pottery in the late primitive society four or five thousand years ago, there are traces of brush strokes.

The creation of the brush was originally related to painting, so it is very close to the "brush" in a broad sense.

Later, writing appeared, and the relationship with the brush became more and more close.

In the end, Chinese calligraphy more and more solidified the image of the brush, and its narrow sense gradually replaced its broad sense.

Pen has a history

　　In order to understand the past and present life of the brush, it is a way to examine the literature.

The other avenue is physical research, which appeared later.

Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, many brushes have been handed down, and the brushes of the Song Dynasty have also been discovered one after another.

　　However, these objects are mostly helpful in revealing their origins, but not enough to trace their origins.

To trace the origin, we must rely more on the physical data before the Tang Dynasty, which must completely rely on the archaeological results of modern times.

　　In 1931, a member of the Northwest Scientific Expedition and Swedish archaeologist Bergman discovered a writing brush from the early Eastern Han Dynasty at the Pochengzi site in Ejina Turghute Banner, Inner Mongolia, which was later named "Han Juyan Brush" by Mr. Ma Heng.

This is the first time that people have seen the real writing brush before Tang.

The writing brushes of the Han Dynasty were later unearthed with the development of my country's archaeological undertakings.

In addition to the Dunhuang area in Gansu, Jiangling in Hubei, Linyi in Shandong, and Lianyungang in Jiangsu have all been discovered one after another.

According to these physical objects, we found that the production of brushes in the Han Dynasty was quite mature. The brush hair was mainly made of rabbit hair, and some were also covered with wool to increase water absorption.

　　At the same time that the actual writing brushes of the Han Dynasty were continuously discovered, the writing brushes of the Warring States Period and Qin Dynasty were also unearthed, and the unearthed objects ran through the early, middle and late phases of the Warring States Period.

The early Warring States period belongs to the Guanchu Tomb Pen in Changtai, Xinyang, Henan Province, which is the oldest real writing brush discovered so far; the middle period is the Chu Tomb Pen in Zuojiagong Mountain, Changsha, Hunan; the late period is the Chu Tomb Pen in Baoshan, Jingmen, Hubei , Jiangling Jiudian Chu Tomb Pen and Gansu Fangmatan Qin Tomb Pen.

There are three belonging to the Qin Dynasty: two were found in the Qin tomb in Yunmeng Sleeping Hudi, Hubei, and one of them was dead; the other was found in the Qin tomb in Zhoujiatai, Jingzhou, Hubei, with only the pen holder.

Compared with Han brushes, Warring States brushes are obviously more "primitive" in shape and craftsmanship.

However, their discovery provides solid physical evidence for the view that "there was a pen before Qin" in the literature.

　　The author's writing "Ancient Brushes" mainly focuses on tracing the source, so it is less involved in writing brushes after the Tang Dynasty.

If we say that the brush before the Tang Dynasty is "source", and the later is "flow", then the brush after the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty is the middle link of the origin and flow of Wanjie.

Some brushes from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty have also been unearthed.

In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there are the Liang Tomb Pens in Gansu Wuwei Gantan Poqian, Xinjiang Astana Tombs, and the silk pens unearthed from the brick chamber tomb in Jiangning, Jiangsu; in the Tang Dynasty, there are wooden stick pens unearthed from the Tang Dynasty Tombs in Astana, Xinjiang. and reed pen.

Although there are not many actual writing brushes unearthed during this period, the difference between the production characteristics and the front and back is very obvious. Some brush hairs are wrapped with silk and silk, and some are thick in the front and thin in the back. The most obvious is the brush hair and the pen Bold diameter.

These characteristics can be regarded as the changes and innovations in the craftsmanship of Chinese brushes, and at the same time have historical significance.

　　There are only two ways to study ancient brushes: documents and objects. They explain each other and give us a deeper understanding of the history of brushes.

Through the continuous discovery of archaeological objects, it is close to possible to try to build a clearer historical development of the early brush.

The author expresses this intention in the volume of "Gubi" by specializing "Illustrations".

pen birthday calligraphy

　　Although there were many "pencils", "bamboo pens" and "wooden pens" in ancient China, the brush played the most important role in the long writing tradition in East Asia, and a very mature and complete technical production system was formed. .

Under normal circumstances, the brush should be used in conjunction with other paper, ink and inkstone to form the so-called "four treasures of the study".

In the "Title of Madam Wei's Brush Array Map" named Wang Xizhi, it says: "The paper is the formation, the author is the sword (lance), the ink is the sunjia, and the inkstone is the city." But in actual writing practice , the role of the brush is the primary.

In the pre-Qin period, writing was still in the "Bamboo and Silk Era", and people had clearly recognized that the pen was the main writing tool.

Qu Li Shang, quoted in "Book of Rites, Qu Li Shang", said that "history contains the pen, and the scholar contains the words", and Kong Yingda of the Tang Dynasty explained: "It is not necessary to speak and concise, but the author, the pen is the master of the book, and the rest of the book can be known."

　　The splendid art of Chinese calligraphy is undoubtedly the creation of the brush, and there is even a saying that "the book is not good, and the pen is half of it" (Yang Bin's "Big Scoop Puppet Brush").

The shape of the pen can especially affect the development of calligraphy.

　　The bamboo slips of the Warring States Period are generally about 0.5 centimeters, so the brush for writing this kind of carrier should be sharper and thinner, and it is true from the physical point of view.

Bamboo slips in the Qin and Han Dynasties began to become wider, generally about 1.0 to 2.0 cm. The brushes of the Han Dynasty were indeed thicker than those of the Warring States period, except for some special productions.

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, as paper became popular, "big pen" also became popular.

For example, the pine wood pen in the Qianliang (equivalent to the Eastern Jin Dynasty) cultural relics unearthed in the dry beach slope of Wuwei, Gansu Province, has a front length of 4.9 cm and a diameter of 2 cm at the upper end.

Another example is the "beam silk pen head" unearthed from the Eastern Jin Dynasty Brick Room Tomb in Xiafang Village, Jiangning County, Jiangsu Province. The front is about 3.8 cm long and 1.4 cm in diameter.

This kind of brush image of "big tube rich hair" can often be seen in paintings of the Tang and Song Dynasties, which is in sharp contrast with the generally slender brush barrels of the Warring States Period, Qin and Han Dynasties.

　　The change of the thickness of the brush directly affects the change of the form and style of calligraphy creation, and promotes the development of calligraphy artistry.

This is also an issue that can be deeply and continuously explored in the future calligraphy research.

pen has meaning

　　"Emphasis on the Tao over the utensils" is a distinctive feature of traditional Chinese ideology. "The metaphysical is called the Tao, and the metaphysical is called the utensil", which has already distinguished the "Dao" and the "Qi".

Xu Gan, one of the "Seven Sons of Jian'an" in the Three Kingdoms, said that "all scholars put the righteousness first, and the name of the material is later, and the righteousness is followed by the name of the material" ("Zhong Lun·Study").

　　At the academic level, the study of writing brushes belongs to the category of "vessel", which is "the name of the object", not the "dao" of "big meaning", or basic research.

However, the author believes that some seemingly brilliant calligraphy researchers like to talk about grand issues such as "the way of calligraphy", "the way of brush and ink", or the relationship between "brush and ink" and a certain "culture".

However, due to the lack of attention to the basic research of the pen, there are often mistakes.

　　For example, there is a kind of concept that the reason why China produces writing tools such as the brush is related to the Confucian consciousness of "shangrou".

The author cannot help but ask, the ancestor of the Confucian school is Confucius. Before Confucius created Confucian culture, didn’t the Chinese use a brush?

What's more, Confucius was unwilling before his death, and he even humbled himself that "if he lost his family's dog", his theory was not officially established until the Han Dynasty.

In this case, should there be brushes in the Han Dynasty?

　　It can be seen that the study of writing brush should not be taken lightly.

The ancients' study of brushes is found in writing.

　　The ancients first paid attention to the political function of the brush.

Cai Yong's "Pen Fu" of the Eastern Han Dynasty preached: "The man who makes the highest sage and establishes the constitution, don't start with the pen." In the Western Jin Dynasty Chenggong Sui's "Abandoning the Old Pen Fu" said: "The merit of governing the world is nothing but the pen. The author, Completion is also the ability to comprehend the shape of all things and order the feelings of nature. That is, the aspirations of the sages cannot be declared without a pen, and it is a great tool of the heaven and earth!" The country's policies, regulations and governance must rely on the pen to complete, and culture cannot be separated from it. Politics, the cultural significance and cultural function of the brush are already contained in it.

Modern scholar Hu Yunyu deduced Cheng Gongsui's point of view in "Bizhi·Chongbi", and revealed the importance of the brush in terms of cultural functions and meanings: "The things of ancient and modern times are not detailed in the text; the complexity of words, There is no such thing as a pen. The author, Bi Ye, can comprehend the shape of all things, and sequence the principles of nature, the treasure of sincere literati, and the great instrument of heaven and earth. The pen has merits in the world, can it be safe to keep it small? "The ancient history, humanities and the principles of nature are described through brush records, and its importance goes without saying that it is not just a plaything in the study of scholars and scholars.

　　Since the brush is a daily necessities, most people do not pay much attention to the meaning of its existence.

Therefore, Li Xu of the Ming Dynasty once warned: "The two matters of pen and ink, the daily and the dealings of scholars, should not be ignorant of the outline." The ballpoint pen has become a mouse and a keyboard, which is roughly equivalent to the "literati" in the past, and the contemporary intellectuals are more alienated from the "pen and ink", which seems to be the general trend.

But looking back on history, the brush has played a huge role in the formation of Chinese culture and even East Asian culture.

Today, Japan, South Korea and other countries still retain quite a few cultural traditions of calligraphy, and Chinese intellectuals also have a unique passion for "calligraphy".

This shows that the brush as a daily necessities has withdrawn from the stage of history, and as a tool for creating art and aesthetics, the brush still plays an extensive and huge role.

　　The British historian Elton wrote in "The Practice of History": "If history wants to exist, it must be written and studied." The task is to try to pick up as many brush culture as possible like picking up scattered beads.

(Author: Wang Xuelei, member of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, Vice Principal of the Second Experimental Primary School of Soochow University)