Xu Anbi usually uses wool or wolf hair as wool. Among them, Mao Xuan pen feels soft and is suitable for writing and painting; Wolf hair brush is hard and suitable for calligraphy practice and lettering. Xu Anbi was born in Jingxian County, Anhui Province (originally belonging to Ningguofu, paper was produced by the government in the name of governing Xuancheng, so it was called Xu Anbi), which is one of the four famous pens in China.
According to Han Yu's Biography of Mao Ying, in 2023 BC, Meng Tian, a general of the Qin Dynasty, passed through Zhongshan (a mountainous area in Jingxian County, Anhui Province) when he went south. He found that the rabbit was fat and long, so he took bamboo as the tube and made an improved brush on the basis of the original bamboo pen. It was popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties and had a pen name. After the Yuan Dynasty, tiger skin prevailed and mysterious skin declined. After the reform and opening up, Xu Anbi gradually recovered its vitality. Xu Anbi, also known as Xuan paper brush, is one of the traditional painting and calligraphy tools in China. Xu Anbi's hair mainly includes wool, porcupine hair and rabbit hair. Among them, porcupine hair is hard and elastic, suitable for writing rough and free regular script and cursive script, while rabbit hair is soft and smooth, suitable for writing brush flower-and-bird painting and ink painting, and skilled people can draw extremely fine strokes with rabbit hair.
As for wool, generally compared with porcupine hair and rabbit hair, it is at a medium level in writing hardness and toughness. It is suitable for writing regular script, official script, seal script and other calligraphy works, and can also be used for drawing ink painting. Different wool materials have different characteristics and performance effects in the application of calligraphy and painting.
In 23 BC, Meng Tian, the general of Qin Dynasty, passed through Zhongshan (a mountainous area in Jingxian County, Anhui Province) when he went south. He found that the rabbit was fat and long, so he made an improved brush based on the original bamboo pen. It was popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties and had a pen name. After the Yuan Dynasty, tiger skin prevailed and mysterious skin declined. After the reform and opening up, Xu Anbi gradually recovered its vitality.
In 2008, Xu Anbi's production skills were listed in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.