How to make a writing brush

Diagram of brush manufacturing process (detailed description of brush manufacturing process)

Qi Ming Publishing House: I once published an article on Qi Ming Calligraphy Blog entitled "Going to Wengang on May 1 to see the brush is worthy of being the pen capital of China", which described in detail what I saw and heard in Wengang during May 1, including a group of photos taken by Mr. Li Xiaoping, a teacher from Chun 'antang, about the process of making the brush.

To tell the truth, I have been learning to write with a brush since I was a child, but this is the first time I have seen the making process of a brush with my own eyes. I was really shocked by the complexity of this process. You know, the hair contained in the brush and nib we use is almost screened out by the pen maker with the naked eye.

In the basic course of Huang Jian's calligraphy, Mr. Huang Jian also talked about the making process of a set of writing brushes. Let's take a look together.

-Qi Ming special demarcation line-

In ancient times, many calligraphers made their own brushes, such as Dan Wei, Zhang Zhi, Wang Xizhi and Zhi Yong. For calligraphers, the writing brush is like Tatsu Yamashiro, which must be improved. But now many people have never seen how the writing brush is made. If you know a little about the making process of writing brush, it will certainly be of great help to you in choosing writing brush in the future.

4. 1 material preparation-basin operation.

The first step is to prepare materials, that is, to prepare wool. China's wool selection is done in a basin, which is a very meticulous work.

In basin operation, besides a basin of water, the main tool is bone comb. Usually made from the shoulder blades of cattle, it can be used to comb hair and pat hair roots.

Pulling hair is pulling it off the leather board. Then soak the hair with lime water to remove grease and fishy smell, and disinfect it at the same time. This step is called ripening. (Qi Ming Press: This lime water soaking time needs to be grasped. If the soaking time is too long, the service life of wool will be shortened. )

The third step is very important, called hair selection, which is to divide the hair into different grades. A hair, like a leather bag, has three layers. The pocket itself is the cerebral cortex. Inside the bag is bone marrow, which is fibrous. This is the bone marrow layer. There is a scale outside the pocket, which is called a scale. The filled part of the hair tip is called glume, and the insiders call it sunspot. The elasticity of hair is related to the thickness of cortex and the length of glume.

Really intact hair is round and straight, and the score of 100 is only 35. Others are often flawed, such as split, no sharp point, hair shaft damage, bending and so on. When selecting wool, it is a very delicate process to wash it repeatedly in the basin, select one by one, remove the defective wool, and then classify it according to color, hardness, length and thickness.

According to experts, a sheep's wool can be used as a pen only about four taels, of which no more than one tael or six taels with "black spots". An excellent hair picker can divide these four or two strokes into ten grades according to the length, thickness, softness and hardness, and use them in all parts of the brush.

Bai Juyi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "Zihao Pen": "There are old rabbits on the rocks in the south of the Yangtze River, and eating bamboo and drinking spring gives birth to Zihao; Xuancheng people use pens, one tenth of a hair. " Write down the difficulty of choosing points.

The next process is to remove the fluff, with one hand pinching the hairy roots and the other hand combing with a bone comb to remove the fluff. A hair has three layers, and the so-called fluff is the outermost scale layer.

Under the microscope, we can see that the outer wall of the hair shaft is not light, but like scales. A brush can store ink, and it is these scales that prevent the ink from flowing down at once. After combing, some of these scales will be combed off. However, it should be noted that if all scales fall off, the hair shaft will become bare, the ink will not be stored, and the flow rate will be very fast. Therefore, there should be neither too many scales nor less scales. You bought your own brush, don't comb it all day.

This is the selected rabbit hair, pointed rabbit hair.

This is a selection of wool quilts.

The next process is Qi Maofeng. Qi Maofeng is Maojian. Aim your hair at one side of the bone comb, hold it down with one hand and gently pull it back with the other. Repeat this way, so that the hair is arranged neatly.

Hair has two ends, one end is a sharp point, and the sharp points are arranged in a line to form a piece. However, at this time, the other end of the hair is a hair tube, which is not neat.

So cut the roots according to the required length. So that the length of each hair is the same.

After cutting the hair root, grab the hair tip with one hand and comb the hair root with the other hand to sort out the broken hair and broken hair inside.

4.2 ingredients

After the wool is finished, it is necessary to make ingredients. What kind of brush do you want to make, soft or hard, long or short, what to send, what words to write, and all kinds of wool? This is the ingredient. (Qi Ming Press: For example, the composition ratio of Qingquan brush customized by Qi Ming is: 85% wool, 12% bristles and 3% nylon. On the whole, the brush is soft and hard, suitable for writing, and many fine strokes can be easily done.

The ingredients are mainly divided into two parts: the main hair is used to make refills, so some hard hair should be added, and the auxiliary hair is used to make quilts. It doesn't matter if you are soft.

Wool blending should not be too much and too miscellaneous, generally two or four kinds of wool. There is an article in history, written by Wang Xizhi, which is actually not, called Bi Jing. When it comes to the collocation of hairpins, Bi Jing says: First, use dozens of stems of human hair and mix them with blue wool and rabbit hair. Here is a note: whoever has long and strong rabbit hair is called a hairpin, and whoever has short and weak rabbit hair is called a hairpin. Make it even, just arrange the three kinds of hair neatly. You see, this formula uses three kinds of hair. People have webbed hair, that is, tiny hair, as well as green wool and rabbit hair.

The writing brush used by Mr. Sha Menghai in Hangzhou has short hair in the center and a few bristles added. The bristles are hard and thick, so it is impossible to make a pen alone. Split it into four sections and clip it in the refill to enhance the elasticity.

When Mr. Qi Gong was 86 years old, he used a brush with a lot of wool. According to Mr. Li's book Qi Gong and Bi Gong, thin light front, thick light front and old light front are used as main materials (these three are wool with different thicknesses), and a small amount of raccoon needle hair is added, with abutment and mane as padding. In this way, wool, raccoon needles, hemp and bristles are used, and one * * * is four kinds of hair.

Wool should be fully prepared and mixed evenly. This is a cut piece of wool, blended with wool. Get ready for the brush, and it's almost finished here.

4.3 refill and quilt.

When the wool is ready, we will officially start writing. As for "Three Humble Pens" (Qi Ming Publishing House: What is Three Humble Pens? You can refer to another article in Qi Ming's calligraphy blog, "What did the ancient writing brush look like? Did you use a heart-shaped pen or a loose-shaped pen? In writing, there are only two parts: one is the pen heart and the other is the quilt.

We need a tool here, called a pencil sharpener.

Look at this schematic diagram and pick out the pornographic layer you need with a pen-covering knife.

Then roll up this pornographic film, which is a pen heart.

This is a wolf hair with a pencil.

Then add a quilt. In Sanzhuo's works, the quilt is just a thin layer of wool, mostly a single wool. No need to mix other hair. The quilt hair is long, but it is generally shorter than the refill. This is to introduce the Lake Pen, which is not only aimed at the nib, but actually aimed at Mao Ying. This is a very distinctive manufacturing process. The quilt can not only protect the pen core, but also polish it.

It should be noted that if you want the master to pick one layer of hair at a time, no matter how experienced, there will always be subtle differences.

This is the same batch of pens I ordered. You can see that the pen on the left is full and the pen on the right is thin. When buying a brush, you should also compare several kinds of brushes. Thick is better than thin. (Qi Ming Press: I don't think thick is better than thin, which is related to the habit of using pens. )

4.4 write a pen.

The pen is ready. When it is dry, tie it tightly with thread. If the bristles are not dry, the inside will be wet, and then the brush will be moldy and broken. The most difficult thing in this step is that the pen must be absolutely round. Therefore, when binding, the force should be uniform, and the deformation should be light and heavy.

Tools for binding nib, from left: alcohol lamp, percussion ruler, rosin, wax thread.

Alcohol lamp is used to melt rosin, so why use rosin? The bottom of the pen should be flat, and the hair roots can be fixed with rosin.

Once I took a lot of pens apart for research to see how many times the master tied them. Usually two laps, there are also three laps, and the big one will tie four laps.

The hair in the middle of the brush is called the hair of life in Japan. A few pieces fall off the outer layer, which is not a big problem, and there is still life. If you lose a hair, even one, disaster will begin, because he will keep losing it and eventually lose his life.

Therefore, Liu Gongquan, a great calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, said: The pen is tied tightly, and it is useless to come out. When you put one down, it starts to loosen.

According to Wei Yan's Fang Bi, when Dan Wei made a pen, the refill had to be tied once, after adding a pair of pennies, it was tied once, and it was tied twice inside and outside. Tied twice is not enough. There are many circles every time. You have to tie a pen item. The so-called "neck" is the back of the neck of the original finger. Tie a neck behind the pen, of course, it is not easy to lose hair.

I really hope that the master can go to Dozza several times, and he likes Dan Wei's pen best. He will paste the pen heart once, and then paste it again after adding a quilt. I think that's much safer.

5. Pen tube

Next, I will talk about the pen tube, which is also very complicated. It can only be said briefly here.

5. 1 material

The first is the material of the pen. There were bamboo pens in ancient times. During the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, some pens used wooden poles. Maybe there is more wood and less bamboo in the north. Historical records show that Meng Tian used wooden poles as well as pens. The use of bamboo is called "pen tube". After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, management was basically used.

Wen Zhenheng, the great-grandson of Wen Zhiming in the Ming Dynasty, wrote in Historical Records: "In ancient times, there were gold and silver tubes, elephant tubes, tortoise shells, glass tubes, and gold-green carved immersed tubes. Almost all carved red sandalwood tubes were vulgar and could not be used. Only the spot tube is elegant, but there is no white bamboo. " This passage is about elegance and vulgarity as well as taste. Bamboo has the meaning of a gentleman, and it is inexpensive. Ancient literati used pens, basically using bamboo tubes.

Spotted bamboo, also known as xiangfei bamboo, has black spots on the bamboo pole. There are several China Tang Dynasty writing brushes and ancient Japanese-made pens in Zhengcang Hospital of Japan, most of which are bamboo.

Now there are generally green tubes and red tubes on the market, and red tubes are dyed. "The Book of Songs: The Quiet Woman" says, "A quiet woman is a beauty, so I am in charge." Tongguan is a red pipe. The History of Ancient Palace Maids, Shangshucheng in Han Dynasty and Shangshuzhen all used red tubes. Reporter from Qi Ming: At present, there is no exact explanation for Tongguan. Speaking of the pen of the red pipe, it is said that it is harmonious (pronounced "tí", and the grass grows in the beginning. Like marriage. ) It should be the same thing. Some plants are red just after birth or just after germination, which is not only bright in color, but also edible. But it can also refer to a tubular instrument painted red.

5.2 thickness

Let me talk about the thickness of the pen first. Why are pens so small and thin in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties? There are two reasons: first, the style of writing is small, with few levels, or even no levels. Secondly, I used to put my pen in my hair, so the pen container was very thin.

The ancients had a bun and could insert a pen. Later, the pen became bigger and the tube became thicker, and the habit gradually disappeared.

This is an unearthed writing brush from the Western Han Dynasty. The nib is enlarged and the pen is thicker. However, one end is sharpened to facilitate insertion into the bun. After the birthdays of Zhang Zhi and Wei in Han Dynasty, real calligraphy pens appeared, and hollow bamboo tubes began to be used slowly.

There is something wrong with the bamboo tube It's hard to grasp when it's thick. If the pen is big, add a bucket instead of a big bamboo tube.

Having said that, Qi Ming will also explain to you why Qi Ming's customized plum brush doesn't only use bamboo tubes like Qingquan Brush. This is because the maximum front diameter that Qingquan Pen (old Yuzhu model) can bear is so large. If it is bigger, it will need more bamboo, but it will inevitably lead to the pen holder being too thick to hold the pen.

This is a custom-made spring pen in Qi Ming, without a pen holder.

Look at the branches in the middle. The pen tube is very thick, and the hole is larger than the diameter of the pen tip. So put a smaller black tube in front to store pens. The real bucket pen is the following one, the pen holder is not thick, because with a bucket, you can hold a large sum.

If the pen tip is very small, it is not to replace the pen holder with a very thin bamboo tube, but to use a sleeve, which can sometimes be covered with several layers. After the sleeve is added, its advantage is that the holding part of the pen tube does not need to be very thin.

You see, this is an example of using case. The pen tip can be very small.

5.3 pen tube length.

How long is the pen tube?

Wang Chong, the author of Lun Heng in the Han Dynasty, said: "A man who knows ability needs a three-inch tongue and a foot pen." Is a smart and capable person, must be able to speak and write articles. A foot in the Han Dynasty is about 23 centimeters. Judging from the pens unearthed in the Han Dynasty, the length is indeed fixed, about 23 cm. In the Tang dynasty, the brush was thick and not stuffed, so it was shorter.

Yu Shinan's On the Essence of Pen in Tang Dynasty said: "The pen is only six inches long."

Judging from dozens of Tang pens in Masakura Institute in Japan, the length is about17cm to19cm, and it is five and a half to six inches in China.

At present, the green pole on the market is about 18 cm, and the red pole is about 2 1 cm, which is similar to the Tang pen and slightly shorter than the Han pen by two centimeters. The longer the pen, the easier it bends. Look at the bottom, it's just too long and obviously bent.

The length of this spring brush customized by Qi Ming is 2 1.3 cm.

The pen tube must be straight. When buying a brush, the inspection method is also very simple. You can feel whether it is straight by rolling on the desktop or glass. If there is a sound when scrolling, the explanation is not straight. (Qi Ming Press: In this regard, Qi Ming thinks that the brush is mainly round, that is, the slight bending of the pen is not a big problem, which will not have a great impact on writing. )

6. nanotubes.

The last step is to accept the test tube. Nanotube refers to the combination of pen tip and pen tube. In layman's terms, it is how to install the pen tip.

6. 1 pipeline depth.

How deep should the nib be inserted into the pen tube? Dan Wei said: "It is better to make your own decisions than to be intimate with Mao's elders." I'd rather stick it deep. He didn't say how deep it was.

As I said just now, Wei's birthday pen should be tied with thread twice, once after the refill is finished, and then tied again after the pen column and quilt are added. In this way, a pen item is tied out and the whole pen item is stuffed into the pen tube.

1993, two writing brushes were unearthed in Wenquan Town, Donghai County, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province. The end of the pen tip is wrapped with thread to form a pen tip article, one of which is 2.3 cm long and inserted into the pen tube by 0.9 cm, and the other is 3.2 cm long and inserted into 1. 1 cm. In other words, the inserted part accounts for one third of the length of the pen.

1995, a writing brush was unearthed from the Han tomb in Haizhou, Lianyungang, with a length of 4. 1 cm and a cannula of 2 cm. In other words, almost half of them are inserted, far exceeding modern standards.

Huang Tingjian has specific records on the prose writing in the Song Dynasty. He said: "Xuancheng Zhuge Gao is a prose pen. The pen is about an inch and a half long, and there is an inch hidden in the tube. "

In other words, two-thirds of the pen tip should be tied into a pen tip and inserted into the pen tube. The intubation is deep, and the pen tip and the pen tube are easy to be integrated, and the use is satisfactory. And it is not easy to lose hair and the pen tip is not easy to fall off.

This is the brush I ordered more than ten years ago. My request is simple, that is, at least one third of the pens should be inserted. Not a little bit, but later. This brush is very obedient and basically does not shed hair.

6.2 Naming

Fixed brushes will have nice names, such as Chinese patent medicines, such as Liuwei Dihuang Pill, Wuji Baifeng Pill and so on. We also have kung pao chicken, Mapo Tofu and so on. The name of the brush is also very literary. If there is a brush that suits you, you can remember the name and it will be easy to buy it next time.

There's something else on the pen tube. On the top of the brush, there is a label. This is the brand, and then the pen name, which means you give yourself a name. I was just thinking about a massacre. Some ordinary brushes are engraved with instructions instead of names.

For example, the common "capitalized overnight wool" means that the wool used has been degreased naturally for many years. Another example is Wolf Hair in the North in Winter. As I said last time, weasel hair from the north is used in winter. Another example is "No.2 Jingti", in which the lifting pen is a larger bucket pen, and No.1, No.2 and No.3 are divided into different sizes. Below the pen name, the name of the manufacturer is often engraved. For example, I think of a "China Brush Factory" here. The manufacturer's name is usually printed in small print.

6.3 Rubber head shaping

Finally, the pen was shaped, as if someone had made a beautiful hairstyle. Fix with hair gel. The brush is fixed by soaking seaweed in water. Boil it into a gel and apply it to a pen. This method existed on Wei's birthday.

Dan Wei's "Pen Workshop" said: "Control it, solidify it with paint, and polish it with seaweed." The dried seaweed gel can fix the pen shape and prevent the hair from being fluffy and messy. Don't wash this seaweed off until you buy it and start using a pen. How to do it specifically? My next demonstration. Dan Wei's method has been used to this day. But in this way, you can't see what's inside when you buy a pen. If you want to try again, I'm afraid the boss won't.

Main points of this section

1. Have a preliminary understanding of the making process of brush.

2. Matters needing attention in material selection, batching, molding and pipe acceptance.

Think about a problem

1. What are the advantages of Dan Wei's small pen heart and large pen heart?

2. If you already have a brush, will you lose your hair? Is there any way to prevent or improve it?

Note: This article is based on Qi Ming's notes compiled in the ninth episode of Huang Jian's Basic Calligraphy Course "Knowing the Pen 2". Qi Ming will sort out other notes one after another, so you are welcome to continue to pay attention.