Four Treasures of the Study: Pen, ink, paper and inkstone.
In China, South Korea, Japan and parts of Southeast Asia, all experts and scholars who like and care about calligraphy and painting know the "study room". If the owner refers to pen, ink, paper and inkstone, it is called "Four Treasures of the Study" for short.
Besides Four Treasures of the Study, there are printing, incense burners, paperweights, pen containers, water drops, seals and so on.
As early as the Tang Dynasty in China, the study furniture had reached its peak. Not only in China in the Tang Dynasty, but also in Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and other countries and regions, "Four Treasures of the Study" was widely used.
I. Pen
Pen mainly refers to writing brush. Brush is a traditional painting and calligraphy tool in China.
It is recorded in Shuowen that a pen is a book. Chu refers to Yu, Wu refers to irregularity, Yan refers to Fu, and Qin refers to pen. That is to say, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chu called the brush "Yu", Wu called it "Irregular", Yan called it "Fu" and only Qin called it "Pen". At least in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, our ancestors had skillfully used the brush as a writing tool.
Pens in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (including earlier writing tools) are not discussed in this article, but only the pens we can collect now.
1, Hu Bi
Hu Pen refers to the pen made in Xing Wu County, Zhejiang Province.
In ancient times, Xing Wu County was under the jurisdiction of Huzhou Prefecture, so it was called "Lake Pen". Tiger Wall has a history of 1500 years and is a valuable cultural heritage of China.
During the light years of the Qing Dynasty, Huzhou's pen-making technology was introduced to Suzhou, and then pen-making workers moved to Suzhou to make pens. Since then, Hu Pen has become a specialty of Suzhou.
At this time, Suzhou Lake Pen is more strict in material selection, exquisite in craftsmanship, excellent in performance, complete in variety, beautiful in internal and external modeling, and enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad.
Hu Bi is mainly wool, including dozens of kinds such as enamel, red sandalwood, rosewood, bamboo and Zhu Xiang.
2, Beijing brush
Beijing Brush inherits and develops the essence of brush-making technology all over the country, and has a unique style in ingredients and materials selection.
In Beijing, the brush is mainly made of bamboo sticks fired in Hunan, and there are also enamel, pear, rosewood, ancient bamboo, Eichhornia crassipes, spotted bamboo, ivory, horn and so on. In ancient times, gold, silver and jade were also used as pen materials.
The writing part is mainly wool, and most of the wool is Su Cai wool. In addition, there are dozens of mountain wolf tail hair, Jiangnan rabbit hair, chicken tip hair, silk thread, deer hair, goose hair, duck hair, pig hair, fetal hair and so on.
Types of writing brushes
Block letters are suitable for writing two inches square;
Inch block letters are suitable for writing words one inch and five minutes square;
The middle block is suitable for writing words one and a half inches square;
Lowercase letters are suitable for writing seven to eight points.
Second, ink.
The invention of ink is a great contribution of the ancient working people in China to the cultural development. As early as the Warring States period, there was "ink", which is one of the treasures of "Four Treasures of the Study".
In ancient times, there was no ink, because the characters before and after the last three generations (Xia, Shang and Zhou) were all bird-trace characters, and writing with paint was called "lacquer book", which means "bamboo stick dipped in paint, writing with paint" and also called "tadpole writing". It was not until the creation of Da Zhuan in the late Spring and Autumn Period that graphite was used to grind juice and write books, and it was not until the Wei and Jin Dynasties that real ink appeared.
The ink that can be collected now belongs to Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the main collection varieties are as follows.
1, huimo
In the early Tang Dynasty, ink was mainly produced in Yixian County, Hebei Province.
At the end of the Tang Dynasty, there was war during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. , Chao and the famous Tingxuan took refuge in Xuzhou, Anhui Province in yi county (Zhou). When Xi and his son saw that the pine trees everywhere in Huangshan were as dense as Yizhou, and that the pine branches they produced were also suitable for making ink, they improved the technology according to the conditions at that time and finally made good ink.
Li Yu, the ruler of the late Southern Tang Dynasty, was a master of calligraphy and painting, and he was very particular about using ink. So the father and son served as ink officials and gave the country a surname of "Li", so Li Mo became famous all over the world. At one time, "gold is easy to get, but Li Mo is hard to find".
By the Song Dynasty, there had been many ink painters. Because these ink makers are located in Huizhou, they have formed "Huizhou ink", which has a history of 1000 years.
Hui ink enjoys a high reputation in ancient and modern times because of its fresh color, lasting ink color and no dizziness in painting and calligraphy.
2. Shanghai ink
Shanghai ink is another branch of Huimo, which moved to Shanghai during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty.
Shanghai Ink Factory specializes in producing high-grade lampblack ink and high-grade antique ink. Its ink has the characteristics of "lines as hard as rhinoceros and jade, and ruby luster", and the characters and paintings used for writing have the functions of lasting fastness, water resistance, insect and mouse prevention.
Reminder: Beware of fake ink
Generally speaking, the raw materials of ink are refined from pure pine smoke, tung oil, musk, borneol, precious Chinese medicine and gold foil. Famous ink preserved so far in Ming and Qing dynasties is very rare, so it is expensive.
At present, fake ink has been found in the market, so inexperienced collectors should not get started easily.
Three. inkstone
There are many kinds of famous inkstones in China, and scholars, calligraphers, painters and bureaucrats in all previous dynasties could not do without inkstones. Here is a brief introduction to the types of inkstones.
1, Qin Zhuan Hanwa inkstone
Bricks and tiles used in various buildings in the Qin and Han Dynasties were all made of clear mud. With the passage of time and war, buildings collapsed and were damaged. Later generations dug up bricks with metallic sound and made them into inkstones, which were called "Qin bricks and Han tiles inkstones".
2. Duan inkstone
Duanyan is produced in the sunrise of Gaoyao section, Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province.
Duan inkstone is the best of many inkstones.
Duanyan has the characteristics of thin middle, thick middle, soft middle and hard middle, and is impervious to ink.
Duanyan is divided into Laokeng, Mazikeng, Songkeng, Meihuakong, Qingduan, Xuandeyan, Chaotianyan, Baixian and Gutayan.
3. inkstone
She Yan is produced in Weilongshan, Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province. Wuyuan County was managed by Zhou She from the first year of Tang Wude to the third year of Xuanhe in the Northern Song Dynasty, so it was called She Yan.
The history of inkstone is 1200 years. Many inkstone pits have been discovered since the early Tang Dynasty, among which the famous ones are Tight Foot, Zhuang Ji, Haibin, Jiyuan and Donkey Pit.
She inkstone is divided into five grades: eyebrow stone, outer ridge, inner ridge, Venus and donkey pit.
She inkstone is characterized by a sharp edge, but it does not lag behind the pen; The stone is strong, but it is easy to ink; The stone head is as delicate as skin and the texture is as beautiful as silk.
She inkstone has the characteristics of saving water, being cool without freezing, and being able to breathe.
4. Cheng Niyan
Cheng Niyan was produced in Jiangxian County, Shaanxi Province. It was put in Fenshui River with sewn silk bags. A year later, the bag was full of sinking soil. After drying, cut the mud into the required inkstone shape, and then burn it into inkstone, which is called Cheng Ni inkstone.
Fourth, paper.
Multi-finger rice paper is produced in Xuancheng, Ningguo and Taiping counties of Jingxian County, Anhui Province. These are all under the jurisdiction of ancient Xuanzhou, so they are called Xuan paper.
In ancient times, there was no paper. Generally speaking, these notes are carved with knives or painted on bamboo slips and wooden slips. Due to the large size of bamboo and wood, it takes a lot of manpower and material resources to carry it. It was after Cai Lun invented papermaking in the Eastern Han Dynasty that he changed the way of bamboo and wood records.
The raw materials of Xuan paper are mainly sandalwood bark and rice straw, which can be made into paper through very complicated procedures.
Characteristics of rice paper
Pure fiber, white paper, strong toughness, good water absorption, calligraphy and painting on paper for a long time does not change color, storage is not easy to be bitten by insects, can be used for writing, painting, rubbing and so on.
Xuan paper is divided into raw Xuan and cooked Xuan. Raw rice paper is soaked by water stains; Cooked propaganda is not waterlogged or infiltrated, which is suitable for meticulous painting.
There are dozens of different varieties of rice paper, such as jade edition, pan-gold, tiger skin, coral and mica, with specifications of six feet, two feet, four feet, six feet and eight feet.
This paper gives a brief introduction to the collection of this study, but there are still many details that have not been discussed. Please correct me if there are any shortcomings.