Xuan Brush Making Technique

Xuan Brush Making Technique

The Xuan brush making technique is a national intangible cultural heritage.

　　The Xuan brush is the foremost of the Four Treasures of the Study. Its making technique originated in the Qin Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and has been passed down for over two thousand years to this day. The birthplace of the Xuan brush is Xuancheng City, Anhui Province. With exquisitely selected hair, precise craftsmanship, elegant assembly, and durable, pure bristles, it embodies the four virtues of a quality brush — pointed, round, even, and resilient. Since ancient times, it has earned deep praise from literati and calligraphers. In 2008, the Xuan brush making technique was included in the second batch of China’s National Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection List.

　　According to records, in 223 BC, when the Qin general Meng Tian and Wang Jian marched south to attack Chu, they passed through the Zhongshan region (according to the “Ancient Chinese Place Names Dictionary,” the Zhongshan region refers to the area around Xuancheng District and Jing County). There, they obtained high-quality rabbit hair, which they used to make the first improved Qin brushes — the purple hair brushes. These Qin brushes made from Zhongshan rabbit hair are the ancestors of today’s Xuan brushes, which is why Meng Tian is also revered by later generations as the patriarch of brush-making.

　　The production process of the Xuan brush is intricate, with careful selection of materials. It mainly uses various types of hair such as rabbit, sheep, weasel tail, badger, mountain goat, and civet based on different purposes. Through six major procedures — material selection, degreasing, water soaking, hair trimming, brush assembly, and character engraving — and over a hundred detailed steps, the brushes are meticulously crafted.

　　Xuan brushes can generally be divided into three categories based on their materials and elasticity: soft hair, hard hair, and mixed hair. The brush handles are mainly made of bamboo, wood, ox horn, porcelain, or ivory, emphasizing the principle of “round core and straight tube.” Soft hair brushes are made from flexible hairs with low elasticity and hardness, such as sheep hair, chicken hair, or fetal hair. These brushes are soft in texture, hold a lot of ink, and offer smooth, rounded, and flexible strokes, with tips that spread easily for full, rich lines. Varieties include the Cha brush, Dou brush, Ti brush, Lian brush, Ping brush, as well as large, medium, and small regular script brushes, and fine-detail brushes. Hard hair brushes are made from stiffer, more elastic hairs. Their tips are firm and elastic, resistant to bending under pressure, and quick to spring back when lifted. They leave sharp, distinct marks on paper, with clear variations between dry and wet strokes, resulting in slender, sharp, and steep strokes. They are especially suitable for small regular script and cursive writing, offering uniform line thickness. Depending on the material, hard hair brushes come in varieties such as “purple hair,” “wolf hair,” and “rat whisker.” Mixed hair brushes are a compromise between pure soft and hard hair (i.e., a blend). Made by combining sheep hair with rabbit hair, or sheep hair with wolf hair — also called “two-hair brushes” — they are neutral brushes that balance softness and hardness, combining flexibility with resilience. They come in slightly hard, slightly soft, and other subcategories.

　　Xuan brushes strike a perfect balance between flexibility and firmness, with uniform bristles and sturdy bases, ensuring smooth writing and easy control. They hold ink well without becoming overly soggy. Today, there are over two hundred varieties of Xuan brushes. Among them, hard hair brushes such as “Xuanzhou Purple Hair,” “Pure Purple Tip,” “Huangshan Mist,” “Outstanding Wolf Hair,” and “Wuxi Clear Spring,” as well as long-tip sheep hair brushes like “Giraffe,” “Crane Neck,” and “Bamboo Tip,” made from specially selected fine sheep hair tips, are not only supplied to calligraphy and painting shops in cities like Beijing and Shanghai and over twenty provinces and cities, but are also exported in large quantities every year to Japan and Southeast Asia.