Lesson Two : Getting Familiar with My Tools
2.The brush:
The bristles of the brush are made of fur or hairs from different
animals. These can be divided into three categories according to
how resistant they are to pressure. Those three categories are:
Siff bristles, soft bristles and mixed bristles.
When looking for a good brush, there are four characteristics to
look out for:
Point（尖，jian）： look for a distinct point to the bristles
Tidiness（齐，qi）：there should be no untidy looking bristles
sticking out
Fullness（圆，yuan）： the bristles should form a full, round
shape
Strength（健，jian）：the bristles should be strongly attached and not
fall out when touched
It is important to take good care of your calligraphy brush. When
using it for the first time, take care while releasing the bristles
from the starch, be gentle when applying or wiping off excess ink
and always wash it thoroughly when you have finished using
it.
2.Ink
There are two types of ink, one is made from lampblack or the
soot created by burning pine branches and the other from burning
vegetable oil, which is combined with a binding agent and scent.
The pigment of this type of ink is long-lasting, and once applied
to paper or silk, is not easily washed away by water.
Some ink comes in blocks or ink-sticks. To use these you have to
pour a little water into your ink-stone and grind the block of ink
into it to make liquid ink.
3.Paper
In the practice of calligraphy, two types of paper most commonly
used, the most common is Xuan paper, sometimes transliterated as
Shuen, called Chinese paper or called incorrectly, rice paper in
English; the other kind is called Maobian or ‘ragged-edge’ rough
paper.
Xuan paper may be further divided into Raw Xuan, Ripe Xuan and
Half-ripe Xuan. This type of paper is predominantly produced in
Jing county of Anhui Province, an area which fell under the Xuan
prefecture in ancient times, and hence the name Xuan paper. Xuan
paper is well-suited for the tone of ink and is highly resilient.
It is said to have a life expectancy of one thousand years.
Rough-edged paper is made from bamboo fibres, and shares many of
the characteristics of Xuan paper.