Ink Brush

Information about Ink Brush

Ink brushes of various size and material for sale at a Taipei store.

Traditional Japanese writing set with ink stone, ink stick and ink brush.

Ink brushes (Traditional Chinese: 毛筆; Simplified Chinese: 毛笔; Pinyin: máo bǐ, in Japanese fude) are used in Chinese calligraphy. They are also used in Chinese painting and descendant brush painting styles (such as sumi-e).

Brushes differ greatly in terms of size, texture, material and cost.

Size: Generally classified as either big (大楷), medium (中楷) or small (小楷); most calligraphy is written with a medium-sized brush. The smallest brushes are used for very small pieces and to sign works. Medium brushes are the most widely used; wielded by a skilled artist, a medium brush can produce a variety of thicknesses of line, from very thin to fairly thick. The largest brushes are used only for very large pieces.
Texture: Either soft (軟毫), hard (硬毫) or mixed (兼毫). Certain textures are better for writing certain styles than others are.
Material: Normally the brush is made from sheep, pig, mouse, buffalo, wolf and rabbit hair, while exotic ones can be made from tiger, fowls, deer, yellow weasel (黄鼠狼) and even human baby hair (from the first haircut a baby gets, said to bring good fortune while taking the Imperial examinations).
Stalk material: Usually normal bamboo, exotic brushes instead may use materials like gold, silver, jade, ivory, red sandalwood or mottled bamboo.

The material one chooses to use depends on one's needs at the moment, certain kinds of brushes are more suited to certain script styles and individuals than others are. Synthetic hair is not used. Prices vary greatly depending on the quality of the brush, cheap brushes cost less than a US dollar while expensive can cost more than a thousand. Currently, the finest brushes are made in Huzhou in Zhejiang.

Together with the ink stone, ink (stick) and paper, the four writing implements form the Four Treasures of the Study.

History

The earliest intact ink brush was found in 1954, in the tomb of a Chu citizen during the Warring States Period (475 - 221 BCE), located in an archaeological dig site Zuo Gong Shan 15 near Changsha. This primitive version of an ink brush had a wooden stalk, and a bamboo tube secures the bundle of hair to the stalk. Legend credits the invention of the ink brush to Qin general Meng Tian. The invention of ink brush resulted in the Lesser Seal Script (Xiaozhuan), which is elegant and curvy unlike its predecessor the Greater Seal Script (Dazhuan) which is rugged and blocky.

Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Earliest paintings were ornamental, not representational. That is, it consisted of pattern or designs, not pictures. Stone Age pottery was painted with spiral, zigzags, dots, or animals.
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Ink and wash painting is an East Asian type of brush painting. It is also known as wash painting, by its Chinese name mo-shui or by its Japanese names, suibokuga (水墨画) or sumi-e (墨絵).
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Sus
Linnaeus, 1758

Species

Sus barbatus
Sus bucculentus†
Sus cebifrons
Sus celebensis
Sus domestica
Sus falconeri†
Sus heureni

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MOUSE was founded in 1997 by entrepreneur Andrew Rasiej and Founding Executive Director Sarah Holloway. Along with leaders from the "high tech" community in New York City, MOUSE spearheaded the process of wiring public schools for Internet access in New York City.
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B. bubalis

Binomial name
Bubalus bubalis
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The abundant Domestic Asian Water buffalo
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C. lupus

Binomial name
Canis lupus
Linnaeus, 1758

Range map. Green, present; red, former.

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Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world. There are seven different genera in the family classified as rabbits, including the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), cottontail rabbit (genus
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P. tigris

Binomial name
Panthera tigris
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Historical distribution of tigers (pale yellow) and 2006 (green).

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Galloanserae
Sibley, Ahlquist & Monroe, 1988

Orders

Galliformes
Anseriformes

The birds referred to as "fowl" belong to one of two orders, namely the gamefowl or landfowl (Galliformes) and the waterfowl (Anseriformes).
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Cervidae
Goldfuss, 1820

Subfamilies

Capreolinae/Odocoileinae
Cervinae
Hydropotinae
Muntiacinae

A deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae.
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This page contains Chinese text.
Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

The Imperial examinations (Traditional Chinese:
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Bambuseae
Kunth ex Dumort.

Diversity
Around 91 genera and 1,000 species

Subtribes

Arthrostylidiinae
Arundinariinae
Bambusinae
Chusqueinae
Guaduinae
Melocanninae
Nastinae
Racemobambodinae
Shibataeinae

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GOLD refers to one of the following:

GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade).
GOLD (parser) is an open source BNF parser.

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Silver (IPA: /ˈsɪlvə(ɹ)/) is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (Latin: argentum) and atomic number 47.
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JADE was the codename given by US codebreakers to a Japanese cipher machine. The Imperial Japanese Navy used the machine for communications from late 1942 until 1944. JADE was similar to another cipher machine, CORAL, with the main difference that JADE was used to encipher messages
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Ivory is a hard, white, opaque substance that is the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal.

The word "ivory" was traditionally applied to the tusks of elephants; the word is ultimately from Ancient Egyptian
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P. santalinus

Binomial name
Pterocarpus santalinus
L.f.

The Red sandalwood or red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus
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Huzhou (Chinese: 湖州; Pinyin: Húzhōu) is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China.
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浙江省
Zhèjiāng Shěng
Abbreviations: ? (Pinyin: Zhè)

Origin of name Old name of Qiantang River Administration type Province

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inkstone (Traditional Chinese: 硯臺; Simplified Chinese: 砚台; Pinyin: yàn tái Japanese: 硯 suzuri
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An ink is a liquid containing various pigments and/or dyes used for coloring a surface to produce an image or text. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen or brush or quill. Thicker inks, in paste form, are used extensively in letterpress and lithographic printing.
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Paper is thin material used for writing upon, printing upon or packaging, produced by the amalgamation of fibres, typically vegetable fibers composed of cellulose, which are subsequently held together by hydrogen bonding.
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Four Treasures of the Study (Traditional Chinese: 文房四寶 Simplified Chinese: 文房四宝 wén fáng sì bǎo, Japanese 文房四宝 Bunbo shiho
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Chu () was a kingdom in what is now central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period (722-481 BCE) and Warring States Period (481-221 BCE).

It was originally known as Jing () and then as Jingchu ().
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Ink Brush

Information about Ink Brush

History

See also