Brushes are generally practical, so they are easily damaged. It is rare that the brush of Ming and Qing dynasties can be handed down and has certain collection value. In last year's spring auction in Shanghai, there were two Ming and Qing brush pens, both of which were valued at about 50 thousand yuan. However, compared with the study such as the pen container and inkstone, the brush, which ranks first in the "Four Treasures of the Study", is inferior.
Legend has it that the writing brush was invented by Meng Tian, the general of Qin Shihuang. Archaeologists found the writing brush of the Warring States Period in the tombs of the Warring States Period in Changsha, Hunan and Xinyang, Henan. This brush is made of rabbit hair. Maybe Meng Tian improved the writing brush. According to China's Ancient and Modern Notes written by people in the late Tang Dynasty, Meng Tian improved the materials and practices of penholders and bristles. The nib is made of deer hair and wool with different hardness, which is both rigid and flexible and easy to write. This proves that the writing brush existed at the latest in the Warring States period more than 2,000 years ago. Later, after practical improvement in various dynasties, in the Yuan Dynasty, the pen-making workshop in Huzhou (now Xing Wu), Zhejiang Province made Yang Hao pens with Jiaxing Lushan hair. As early as the Ming and Qing Dynasties, "Tiger Brush" became the most famous brush in China, ranking first in "Four Treasures of the Study".
Brush is divided into three types: thin pen, thick pen and flat pen. The raw materials for making brush are wool, wolf hair and wolf wool. In addition, there are pens made of badger hair and horsehair. Pens with cohesion, elasticity and sharp hair are preferred. Pen holders are generally made of bamboo, mahogany, ivory, rhinoceros horn and other materials.
There are two kinds of brushes, one is practical. When choosing this kind of brush, we should pay attention to its quality, firmness and straightness. In short, it is convenient to write, and the appearance decoration requirements are not high. It is also used by most painting and calligraphy lovers and painters. The other is a decorative brush, which is given and purchased as gifts and collectibles. It is very exquisite from material selection to production. Pen holders are carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes, and there are micro-carved poems of Tang and Song Dynasties. The packaging of the ornamental brush is also very beautiful. If it is collected with the packaging box, its price will be higher.
There is no boundary between utility brushes and decorative brushes. It can't be said that the decorative brush has no use value, but the price is different. In Rong Baozhai, Beijing, a set of exquisite calligraphy and painting carved pens from Suzhou Pen Factory sells for 36,000 yuan. The price of a Li Fushou medium ivory wolf brush produced by Beijing Pen Factory is 1.2 million yuan; A "Tianzuo Paper" brush made by Bobaozhai in Chaozhou, the price is 1 000 yuan. These modern fine brushes are expensive and have considerable collection value. At present, the price of high-grade brushes on the market is the best, generally reaching 65,438+10,000 yuan in 800 yuan. Mid-range 100 yuan to 200 yuan; Below 200 yuan is the low grade. The brush handed down from the Ming and Qing Dynasties is another matter. It can be seen in the market that low-grade brushes pretend to be high-grade sales, and some brushes worth more than ten yuan are marked with a price of more than one hundred yuan; A brush worth 100 yuan, marked with the price of 1000 yuan. Buyers should pay attention to the fact that it is best to buy in a reputable fixed store.
When writing running script, couplets and leveling, you can choose wool pen and wool quilt, which are soft and tender and have a wide range of uses. Zihao and Langhao pens are hard and elastic, and the regular script is short and the painting is long. On the other hand, the double-stranded brush is both soft and hard, which can be used for writing and painting. The three numbers of the brush are divided according to the length and thickness of the brush head, and users should choose the model according to the size of calligraphy and painting.
The key to choosing a brush is to pick the tip of your hair. A good pen should be sharp, neat, round and healthy. The so-called sharp or sharp, refers to the pen tip and not bald; Qi means that the top hair is neat and even after the pen is flat; Circle means that the pen is round and straight, conical, not flat or thin; Health means that the brush is elastic when writing, and the bristles are easy to fold after being unfolded, and it is easy to restore the original straightness after being bent. This is actually the "four virtues" often mentioned in Tiger Skin. Among them, roundness and health are the most rare. Draw a circle on your finger with a pen, and you won't feel tough and dull; After drawing the circle, the pen naturally converges into a pointed cone, and the more you use it, the more handy it is.
When choosing a pen container, it depends on whether the pen container is round and smooth, not flat, not cracked, not bent or inclined, and the length is moderate. If there is seal cutting on the pen, it depends on whether it is clear; If there is a mosaic, it depends on whether it is elegant and simple.
Finally, it depends on whether the pen and the pen are stuck together, and whether the pen is moldy or moth-eaten. Gently shake the pen with your hand to see if it is loose; Check whether the brush tip is moldy. You can smell it.
It is normal to have a layer of floating hair after writing, but it has not been removed after repairing the pen.
There are many kinds of brushes in China, and they are well-made, among which Hunan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and other real estates have the best quality. According to the purpose, it is generally divided into purple hair, double brush, fountain pen, wolf hair, wool, large pen and writing brush.
Boutique features: the pen body is straight and round, the hairline is clean, straight and impartial, it does not shed hair or split when used, it is flexible and moderate, and the pen tip and pen holder are firmly combined.
Pay attention to the characteristics of hair when buying, generally depending on the author's requirements.
(1) Wool Wool: Made of goat hair, it is a popular product. Among them, wool has been stored for many years, fat has dried up, and it is easy to ink; Chen is a bit rigid; Smart sheep are thin and transparent tips; A clean sheep has no impurities and its wool is soft.
(2) Purple hair: It is made of black hair on the back of the mountain rabbit. The hair is relatively rigid, and it is suitable for writing running script and cursive script.
(3) Wolf hair: made of weasel tail hair, slightly less rigid than rabbit hair.
(4) Moustache pen: made of moustache, the strokes are pure, smooth and sharp, and the written fonts are both hard and soft.
(5) Chicken brush: made of chicken chest hair, which is quite soft and difficult for beginners to master, so it is not suitable for use.
After having a good pen, it is natural to know how to maintain it.
When the brush leaves the factory, the tip of the brush is usually stuck with antlers. This is not only convenient for packaging, but also makes the bristles straight and practical. When in use, gently pinch off the bristles with your hands, then soak the bristles with clear water (cold water), spread out the nib completely, rinse off the vegetable liquid in the pen, remove the floating hairs that are not stuck at the roots, squeeze out the water, and smooth the bristles, so as to use ink.
When using a writing brush for the first time, the nib should be soaked in ink for a period of time, so that the nib can absorb enough ink before using it. Especially for large pens, the soaking time is longer, so that the pen can absorb enough ink. Because the hair inside the pen tip cannot be completely soaked by ink in a short time, even if the surface of the pen hair is coated with ink, the pen hair is still impractical and swollen, and the use effect is not ideal. After several uses, the pen tip will be completely soaked with ink, becoming straight and practical, slightly more elastic and having the best use effect.
After using the brush, immediately rinse the ink contained in the pen head with clear water and squeeze out the water. "After the wonderful pen is written, the stagnant ink will be washed away, so it is firm and durable" (Tu Long's Yu Shi Kao). Then gently smooth the bristles by hand and hang them dry for later use.
Don't insert the wet pen that has just been washed into the pen container immediately, so as to avoid the water in the pen tip infiltrating into the pen cavity, causing the root of the pen tip to be moldy and depilated.
When using the brush again, you need to soak the pen in cold water and squeeze it out before using it. If you put ink directly into the pen without soaking it in clear water first, the inside of the pen can't be soaked with ink for a short time, leaving a gap inside the pen, which makes the nib easy to crack and difficult to wash after use.
Some people put the used brush pen in a copper pen cover or plastic cover without washing, which can prevent the pen tip from drying and facilitate reuse. Although this can prevent the pen tip from drying up, it is convenient to reuse and reduce the trouble of washing the pen, but the effect is very bad. Because ink is very corrosive to bristles, especially some poor quality inks are more corrosive to bristles. A good brush often becomes bald after a period of use. Although there are many reasons for the baldness of nib, such as rough paper, poor quality of nib hair, improper preparation and treatment of tail hair in production, etc., the corrosion of nib hair by ink is often one of the main reasons. What's more, all pens rot from the mouth of the pen holder, which obviously proves that ink is working. Needless to say, after use, the brush does not rinse ink, nor does it wear a pen cover, so that the nib becomes a hard knot. When you use it again, it won't open in a short time, so you should press the nib hard, which will easily break the nib and make the pen useless without a sharp point.
In addition, after using the brush, if the ink in the pen tip is not washed clean, the ink residue in the pen tip will accumulate more and more, which will deform the pen tip, and the root of the pen will form a knot as hard as an ink block, forming a "big belly", which will lead to the pen not being shaped, and the pen tip will crack and not be firmly held.
If there is no widely used new brush, it should be wrapped in plastic paper and sealed for a long time, and insect repellent, usually moth balls, should be added, and then placed in a carton or wooden box. In summer, the temperature is high and the humidity is high, so it should be aired frequently to prevent mildew and enhance the moth-proofing effect. Soak the brush head with coptis water, and then hang it to dry. If it is stored for a long time, the insects will not eat it.
I think with the above methods, your brush will definitely help you succeed in practice.
If you want to talk about the price, I checked. Generally, it is more practical to buy something above 20 yuan.
It is not easy to lose hair. If it is better, 30 yuan is a very good brush. If it is better, you can pay a high price. Well, that's it.