FourTreasures of Study 文房四宝

Four Treasuresof Study refer to the ink stick, writing brush, paper and ink slab used inChinese calligraphy and painting. The name stems from the time of the Southernand Northern dynasties.

Ink Stick

Since the HanDynasty, ink sticks have been made from pine soot, using other procedures thatinclude mixing with glue, steaming and molding. In ancient times, emperors suchQianlong in the Qing Dynasty had paid great attention to the production of inksticks and were expert in their appreciation of quality inks. The best inksticks are fine grained and have a light, slightly ringing sound when tapped.They are often decorated with poems, calligraphy, or paintings. Theseparticular articles are highly collectable, and often acquired like stamps. Theink sticks in highest regard, known as Huimo (徽墨), contain musk (麝香), borneol (冰片) and other precious materials. They are still produced today inShexian (歙县) in Anhui Province(安徽).

Writing Brush

The writingbrush is the oldest of the Four Treasures. Brushes are generally made fromanimal hair, or —in certain situations—the first hair taken from a baby’s head(said to bring good luck in the Imperial Examinations). Brush handles arecommonly made from bamboo, but special brushes may have handles of sandalwood(檀香), jade, carved bone, ivory, or other precious materials.

Modern brushesare primarily white goat hair (羊毫), black rabbit hair (紫毫), yellow weasel hair (黄鼠毫/狼毫), or acombination mix. Ancient brushes and some of the more valuable ones availableon the market may be made with the hair of any number of different types ofanimals. Each type of hair has a specific ink capacity, giving distinct brushstrokes. Different brushes are used for different styles of calligraphy andwriting. The most famous and highly prized brushes are a mix of yellow weasel,goat and rabbit hair, known as Hubi (湖筆); highly prized since the Ming dynasty, they are currently made inShanlian (善琏), a town inthe Wuxing District (吴兴) of Zhejiang Province .

   Paper

Paper was firstdeveloped in China in the first decade of 100 AD. Before the existence ofpaper, Chinese ancestors utilized knots in cords to record events. They thencarved on bone, ivory, tortoise shell and bronzes. For many years they wrote onpieces of bamboo. There is a story that tells that Confucius was such an avidand diligent reader that he would wear away the strips of ox-leather which wasused to bind the pages of bamboo books. During the early Han Dynasty wealthypeople would write upon white silk but this was beyond the reach of themajority as the cloth was so precious.

Several methodsof paper production developed over the centuries in China. However, the paperwhich was considered of highest value was that of the Jingxian (泾县) in Anhui province, which areknown as Xuanzhi (宣紙). It is soft, fine-textured, moth resistant, has a high tensilestrength, and remarkable longevity ---it has a reputation for lasting “1,000years”. The quality of the paper depends on the processing methods. Theprocessing determines how well ink or paint is absorbed into the fiber of thepaper, as well as the stiffness of the paper itself. Unprocessed papers arevery absorbent and quite flexible, whereas processed papers are far moreresistant to absorption and are stiffer.

Ink Slab

The ink slab isused to grind the ink stick into powder. This powder is then mixed with waterin the ink slab in order to produce usable ink for writing and painting. Themost ideal water for use in ink is slightly salty. The stone used is generallyof a relatively fine whetstone.

The earliestknown ink slabs date back to the Han Dynasty. The production of ink slabsreached its peak in the Tang and Song dynasties with ink slabs becomingextremely intricate works of art. Nearly all Chinese calligraphy enthusiastshold that the star of ink slab is the Duanyan(端砚), ink slab produced in Duanzhou of Guangdong Province. It has itsbase a purple color and enjoys the poetic name “purple clouds”. It was always atribute to the royal families during the Tang Dynasty.

 

Abridgedand revised from

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/arts/chinese-calligraphy.htm