The Hu Writing Brush

The writing brush is a functional handicraft article peculiar to China, an instrument still used by its pupils in calligraphy and painting exercises.

The first writing brush, according to legend, was made by Meng Tian, a general under the First Emperof of Qin (259-210 B.C.), long time in command of the troops stationed along the Great Wall.

Once he happened to see a tuft of sheep's wool stuck on the wall. Taking it down and tying it on a stick, he made the first writing brush. Archaeological finds, however, have given the lie to this story. Traces on the painted pottery unearthed at the ruins of the Neolithic site of BanpoVillage near Xi'an show that the brush in its crude, primitive form was used 6,000 years ago.

But people still called Meng Tian – who may have improved upon the brush – the originator of the writing tool. ShanlianTownship in Wuxing County, Zhejiang Province – dubbed the “metropolis of the writing brush” – is also known as Mengxi (Meng's Steam) in memory of Meng Tian.

The brushes produced at the township, which used to be under the HuzhouPrefecture in the old days, are called Hubi (Huzhou brushes) and supposed to be the best in the country.

The hu brush is made of the hairs of the goat, hare and yellow weasel, all marked by a quality which is at once soft and resilients. Dipped in the black Chinese ink, the hu brush may follow the manoeuvres of the strokes – dark or light, wet and solid or half dry and hollow – for different effects in the writing or painting.

First- grade hu brushes must meet four requirements: a sharp tip, neat hair arrangement, rounded shape and great resilience. Their making involves more than 70 steps of careful work. For instance, the preparation of the material alone means that the hairs of a goat or hare must be sorted out into dozens of bunches according to thickness, length, and softness or stiffness.

Then hairs of different specifications are used to make different brushes meant for different used. Now hu brushes are produced in more than 200 varieties.

The sticks for the brushes, made from local bamboo of high quality, are often decorated with ivory, horn or redwood; some are mounted at the top with horn or bone for the purposes of inscription.

Hu brushes, renowned as “king of writing brushes”, used to be supplied to the imperial court. They were also a necessary item on the desks of men of letters or of means.