Lake Pen

Lake Pen

The Lake Pen is a protected geographical indication product.

　　　　Product Name: Lake Pen

　　　　Place of Origin: Huzhou, Zhejiang Province

　　　　Product Features: A unique style characterized by “sharp, even, round, and resilient, combining strength and flexibility with ease of use.”

　　　　Product Introduction: The Lake Pen originates from Huzhou, Zhejiang Province. The materials used are carefully selected and the craftsmanship is refined. There is a wide range of varieties, with thick ones as big as a bowl’s rim and fine ones as thin as embroidery needles. It features four key qualities: sharpness, evenness, roundness, and resilience. Sharpness refers to the tip being as pointed as a cone; evenness means that when the tip is flattened, the ends are aligned like a knife-cut edge; roundness indicates a full and smooth pen head; and resilience refers to the springy firmness of the tip. Lake Pens are divided into four major types: sheep hair, wolf hair, mixed hair, and purple hair. By size, they can be classified into four grades: large regular script, inch regular script, medium regular script, and small regular script. Also known as “Huying,” “Ying” refers to the clean, bright, and neatly tapered tip section, which pen makers call the “black core.” This is the most distinctive feature of the Lake Pen. When dipped in ink, the tip remains pointed, and when spread out, the inner and outer hairs are neat, without any irregular lengths. The goats from this region produce only an average of three taels of suitable hair per goat, and only six qian of that has a proper tip. Each individual hair with a fine tip on a Lake Pen is hand-selected from countless strands varying in thickness, length, softness, hardness, curvature, and shape. These hairs offer the advantages of being pointed, round, even, resilient, finely tapered, pure, and durable.

　　　　Product History: Known as having “the finest brush-making skills under heaven,” the Lake Pen has a history of over two thousand years. It originated in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, hence the name Lake Pen. The Lake Pen is one of the “Four Treasures of the Study” and is hailed as the “king of pens.” The hometown of the Lake Pen, Shanlian Town, is said to be where Qin Dynasty general Meng Tian invented the brush by using “a dry branch as the shaft, deer hair as the core, and sheep wool as the wrapping (outer layer),” leading to the construction of a temple in Shanlian dedicated to Meng Tian. The tip of a Lake Pen has a neatly aligned and transparent sharp section, generally made from premium goat wool through nearly a hundred meticulous processes such as soaking, plucking, combining, combing, linking, and fusing. Bai Juyi once described the precision of brush-making with phrases like “selecting one hair from tens of thousands” and “though the hair is light, the craftsmanship is immense,” highlighting the finesse of the craft—hence the saying “the finest brush-making skills under heaven.” Huzhou’s “Wang Yipin Pen Shop,” a store with over 200 years of history, was praised by Guo Moruo in a 1961 poem: “The Lake Pen is renowned for Wang Yipin; letters inked bring grandeur anew. The green waves of E’tan flow with fresh charm, while orchids in the vale send their fragrance far.” Guo likened the Lake Pen to an orchid blooming in a secluded valley, highly commending its exquisite quality. Many international visitors and calligraphy and painting enthusiasts come to Huzhou specifically to purchase Lake Pens.