文房专区：文房四宝The Scholar's Table

1. Page introduction

The Four Treasures of the Study

Brush, ink, paper and stone — the four quietest tools on a Chinese desk

The four treasures are not four separate objects. They are a set of relationships. Paper has to hold ink without letting it spread. Ink has to grind open on the stone. The brush has to store ink and release it again. Each one sets demands on the others, and each one makes the others work. Take one away and the other three stop performing.

This page follows the sequence paper, brush, ink and stone. Each part has three layers: where it comes from, how it is made, and what it has meant to the people who use it.

2. Xuan paper

Where it comes from: The name comes from Xuanzhou in the Tang dynasty. Around Jingxian the hills hold clear water. Bark of the blue sandalwood tree gives long fibers; rice straw gives softness. Together they make a sheet that holds ink without letting it bleed. From the Song and Yuan dynasties on, Xuan paper became the standard for painting and calligraphy, and it is still made in the same mountain valleys.

How it is made: From bark to finished sheet takes about a year: bark selected, soaked, steamed, cleaned, beaten, blended, lifted, pressed, dried and sorted. Lifting is where skill shows. Two screens go into the vat together and the frame has to rise level; thickness lives in the wrists and waist. A little too thick and the sheet feels rough; a little too thin and it leaks. The wet sheet is brushed onto a heated wall so that it dries flat.

What it means: Xuan paper comes raw or sized. Raw paper drinks water quickly and suits free brushwork; sized paper, treated with alum, suits fine line work and small regular script. Empty space on the page is never really empty. It is space kept for ink. The Chinese phrase 'paper lives a thousand years' speaks both of how long the sheet lasts and of a wish that writing might last longer than the writer.

3. The brush

Where it comes from: Brushes appear in Chinese records by the Warring States and Qin periods. The best known story credits Meng Tian with their invention. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, brush makers in Shanlian, Huzhou, were known for careful selection of hair and fine division of labor, and the Hu brush took its name from there. One brush often passes through several pairs of hands.

How it is made: A Hu brush goes through hair selection, the water basin stage, binding the head, fitting the shaft, final trimming and engraving. The water basin stage is all in the fingers: hair is soaked, combed, evened, rolled into a core and covered with an outer layer, and every stray hair is picked out. Brush makers look for four qualities: a pointed tip, an even front, a round belly and good spring.

What it means: Those four qualities are often read as four standards for a person. A brush wears down with use, and a worn brush is rarely thrown away; it stays on the desk as a reminder. Few handmade objects grow closer to their owner as they wear out.

4. Hui ink

Where it comes from: Hui ink comes from the old Huizhou region. Ink makers were already known there in the Tang dynasty, and the workshop of Li Tinggui under the Southern Tang is often named as its source. From the Song dynasty on, ink studios multiplied across Huizhou, and an ink stick became something a scholar kept and collected, not only something to write with.

How it is made: Soot is refined and sifted, glue is blended in, the mix is pounded, formed, rested, trimmed and finally traced with gold. Soot comes in two kinds: pine soot reads cool and black, oil soot reads warmer and brighter. The ratio of glue to soot sets hardness and sheen. Pounding has to bring soot and glue fully together; pound it enough and the stick grinds open smoothly and the brush does not drag.

What it means: Ink is said to have five tones: burnt, dense, heavy, pale and clear. One stick, adjusted with water, gives all five. It is a Chinese way of seeing many things inside one. Grinding ink is also a form of preparation: the hand turns, the mind waits, until both the ink and the mood settle.

5. The inkstone

Where it comes from: Inkstones came before paper. Stone inkstones exist from the Han dynasty. From the Tang dynasty on, the Duan, She, Tao and red-silk stones were named together as the great inkstones. Duan stone comes from the Duan stream in Zhaoqing, Guangdong; She stone from the Longwei mountain area in She county, Anhui. Both are valued for fine, moist grain.

How it is made: Half the craft is choosing the stone, half is cutting the pool. The stone is checked for fineness, moisture and hard flaws. The pool is cut with a flat grinding surface and a shallow well, with edges that let ink gather instead of clinging. A good stone grinds ink like oil: no rasping sound, no drag on the brush.

What it means: An inkstone outlasts almost everything else on a desk and can pass through several generations. Inscriptions are often carved on its back or side, usually a line the owner wanted to keep in mind. The quietest object in the study tends to carry the longest stretch of time.

6. Before writing

1. Lay the paper flat and weight the corners. Check how fast it drinks water before deciding how heavy to press.
2. Put a little clean water in the stone and grind the stick slowly, clockwise, until the surface shows a fine sheen.
3. Straighten the tip against the stone edge so the hairs gather to a point. Never dip a dry brush straight into ink.
4. Try one stroke on scrap paper to see whether paper, ink and brush need small adjustments.

The whole routine takes five minutes. It is also the only way these objects are truly used. Their value is not in being displayed. It is in being picked up for a short while each day.