The Four Treasures of Studio in China - Essay Example

The four treasures of studio xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Name xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Course xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Lecturer xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date The four treasures of studio in Chinese The four treasures basically refer to the tools or items typically found in the studio of classical Chinese scholars namely paper, writing brush, ink stick and ink stone. Besides being the most prized among contemporary scholars and collectors, these heirlooms are the focus of most Chinese aesthetics and art. The brush for instance, has a long standing history which can be traced back to the records of very ancient painted pottery. Samples of brushes dating from the Autumn and Spring Periods (770-476 B.C.) have been unearthed from tombs. The major area of brush production in China is Xuanzhou which become the predominant area after the “Golden Age” when China underwent cultural development. The ink-stick is quite peculiar to the Chinese calligraphy and painting. The ink stone also has a long history tracing back from the Han Dynasty and it is the tool by which the ink-stick is mixed with water to form useable ink. It is widely agreed that paper was first invented in China. Traditionally, paper was almost to exclusion of other forms of writing materials such as silk and bamboo strips. Other tools used hand-hand-hand with the four treasures include seal box, the personal seal, paperweight, ink box, brush pot and brush holder (Zhang 2004). This article will discuss each of these items in terms of what they are and how they can be useful in life. The brush According to Barrass (2002), the brush is considered as the center, star or main character among the four treasures. It is regarded as an extension of the calligrapher’s soul and body. Traditionally, the brush was an indispensible tool Chinese study rooms. It is believed to have unique influence in expressing the ideas as well as charms of Chinese painting and handwriting. There are many categories of brushes. One of the ancient classification techniques was on the basis of the hair used. Examples of such brushes include rabbit hair, horse hair, chicken down, fetal animal hair and even human hair. They are also categorized on the basis of the function of the tips which are basically gives three types: soft, hard and hard soft. Brush handles are made of precious materials such as jade, ivory, mother-of-pear inlay as well as some types of wood such as porcelain, lacquer, wood and bamboo. The brush, being a special tool, shows the abstract beauty of lines in calligraphy. The animal hair used in a particular brush determines the type of writing. For bold writing, one uses sheep wool while for small delicate writing rabbit hair is preferable. The handles of the ancient painting brushes are similar to those used today as they were all made of wood or bamboo. However, the way the brushes were connected to the handles was quite different. Some brushes had handles that were surrounded with brush hair at the end of the handle while others were slit at the ends and the hair inserted at the slits. In both cases the hairs were bound with silk and lacquered. During the Han Dynasty, most of the attention was paid to the decorations of writing brushes. Brushes meant for emperors were decorated with feathers and jades worth hundreds of taels of gold. The Xuan brush was developed during the Tang and Song periods and it was renowned for its delicacy and excellence. It was made of rabbit hair and purple in color. Besides that, it more advanced and sophisticated in terms of technique of manufacture and materials used. It had a short, strong and tip similar to a knife which made it possible to exert pressure on the paper. The brush therefore, became a favorite tool for noblemen and scholars during the ensuing dynasties. The elegance of the purple brush was actually demonstrated in poems such as the Purple Writing Brush written by the famous poet Bai Juyi. Some of the conspicuous lines describing the beauty of the pen include “Sharp and keen at the tip, the purple brush is like an awl or knife.” Nevertheless, the Zhuge family has more recently produced Zhuge brush which was considered the best nationwide. The brush was renowned for its solid foundation at the end of the handle that allowed brushes to stick close to each other. During that era it was said one Zhuge brush was the equivalent of several common ones. Being exceptionally special, the Chinese brush can be used to make special drawings even in the contemporary world. In particular, they can be used to made historical art works; those meant to have a leave a foot print in the future. The brushes demand great skill and care in use as they do not permit the artist to correct mistakes as is the case in some western art (Rae 2008). The brush is held in a special way due their sensitivity to pressure and movement. The ink stick The ink stick is yet another indispensible part of Chinese calligraphy and writing. While most people were conversant with the art of making paper, brushes and ink-stones, very few had the knowledge of making ink-stick. Apparently, the wonderful and strange features found in ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphy could only be well portrayed using a special and unique form of pigment (Rae 2008). From the word ‘stick’ one would presume that the ink-stick was form of a stick that could be used for the same purpose as the brush. Surprisingly, the ink-stick is solid form of ink that the traditional Chinese artists used for easy preservation and transportation of the ink. Before ink-sticks were discovered, Chinese artists used natural ink, also referred to as primitive ink, especially in tortoise-shell augury, in carpentry and for face tattooing. Artificial ink replaced the natural ink during the Han Dynasty. The artificial ink is made from pine soot which is collected by hand and bound together into hard ink stick. Besides pine soot, other types of soot are used in the production of ink-stick such as lacquer soot, petroleum soot and tung oil soot. Pine soot comes from old pine trees and thus is greasy and thick. It produces black and light ink that can only be used for handwriting but not for painting. Tung oil soot is made from tung seeds and of high quality. It is applicable in both handwriting and painting. Ink-stick have different shapes namely irregular, oval, round, cubic and square. Whatever the shape, ink-sticks are composed of two to six box-like sections. Ink is then mixed inside these sections and pounded until each section contains a complete stick. With regard to appearance, ink-sticks can be categorized as lacquer-on-the-side, gold-rinsed and original-color. The Huangshan Mountain was the original place for production of ink-stick. Before the end of the five dynasties, the North was the major source of ink-stick due the large multitude of good quality pine trees that grew in the area. Later, wars in the North became so frequent such that pine ink-stick producing areas moved to the south. The most celebrated ink-stick was the Hui-mo, which was produced from the south in Huizhou of Anhui. The process of grinding ink-sticks was tedious and time consuming. As such calligraphy inks have been recently developed to replace ink-sticks. Ink is endowed with infinite possibilities and thus it can be used in our lives to express subtlety of spirit as well as express the unusual sense of dimension (Chen 2011). Paper Over the years, the vehicles of Chinese calligraphy have changed from oracle bones to silk, bamboo slips and wood slips finally to paper. Paper became the best painting material due to its good quality and cheap price. It is believed that paper was first discovered in China by Cai Lun during the Eastern Han Dynasty. After the Jin Dynasty, paper was used almost in exclusion and other writing materials such as silk and bamboo strip lost popularity completely. During the ensuing dynasties, various techniques of producing paper emerged causing a sudden thrive in the paper-producing industry. The most celebrated and superior paper of the days was the Xuan paper produced in Jing Prefecture of Anhui (Qian and Fang 2007). Today, Xuan is considered as a special calligraphy paper and is quite different from modern papers which are absorbent and soft. Xuan papers are mainly made from rice fibers although other materials can be used. In fact, in most places in China, the paper was referred to as the ‘rice paper’. Other types of Xuan paper include gampi paper, bark paper, mulberry paper, aged Xuan paper and Double Xuan paper. Xuan paper is known for its high quality absorbance of Chinese ink. This factor makes it the most suitable paper for formal Chinese painting and calligraphy artworks. Artwork done on Xuan paper has been associated with respect and politeness hence the paper can be used for artworks that are gifted. In our lives, Xuan paper is just the most suitable paper to produce artworks that we would want to pass to forthcoming generations. Besides that, Xuan paper is the world’s most durable paper and it has been noted to have exceptional resistance to deterioration and aging (Qian and Fang 2007). Additionally, it has the right degree of absorbency for Chinese brush and ink so that the art and materials complement each other superbly to produce optimal results. The papers come in different absorbency, smoothness, thickness and sizes. Machine-made Xuan papers are now available for practice and they are much cheaper that the traditionally handcrafted brands. However, this newly developed Xuan papers are inferior in terms of texture and quality hence cannot be used to produce artwork intended for commercial purpose. Ink stone The ink stone is regarded as the most valuable among the four treasures. This is because they have been handed down from ancient generations due to their solid nature (Barrass 2002). From its appearance, one would think that the ink stone is a piece of decorative art. However, the ink stone is used alongside a pestle to grind the ink-stick pigments. After the Han Dynasty, when artificial ink-sticks were discovered, the pestle gradually disappeared. Ink stones that existed during the Han Dynasty include the stone ink-slabs, copper ink-slabs and lacquer ink-slabs. Round tripod pieces were the most typical stone ink-slabs. These ink stones however become vogue in the following Dynasties and were gradually replaced by Piyong ink stone with circular legs. Among all the known ink stones, the She Zhou and Duan Zhou are the best and due to this the most costly. It is said that workmen digging stones are the Duan Zhou River has to be naked and they were under strict supervision by governors. Ink stones have three different purposes: practice, collection and decoration. For the sake of practice, one should chose ink stones with less carvings as carvings as ink stones with more carvings go for higher prices. In the contemporary society, ink stones are being used as decorations in the house as well as collections in galleries (Barrass 2002). Conclusion The four treasures of the Chinese studio are indeed very fundamental in painting, calligraphy and handwriting. The brush, being the star among the four treasures, is highly regarded as the tool that can be used for making historical artwork. They come in different textures depending on the thinness or thickness required. The ink stick contains the ink pigment that is ground and diluted with water to produce the ink. Due to the diversity of the ink sticks, they can be used in our lives to express sense of dimension and subtlety. Paper is the surface used for painting and calligraphy. The Chinese Xuan paper is the world most famous calligraphy paper for its durability. Thus, it is the most appropriate paper for making artwork intended to be kept for thousands of years to come. The ink stones are considered the most valuable among the four treasures as they have been handed over from many generations. They are the surfaces upon which the ink sticks are ground. Besides grinding, some ink stones are used for purposes of collections as well as for decoration. When used in coordination and in good proportions, the four treasure of the Chinese studio can produce optimal results. References Barrass, G 2002, The art of calligraphy in modern China. Berkeley: University of California press. Chen, T 2011, Chinese Calligraphy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://www.nanrae.com/introduction%20to%20brush%20painting.pdf. Qian, Z, and Fang, D 2007, Towards Chinese Calligraphy, Macalester International, Vol. 18(1), p. 100-124. Rae, N 2008, Introduction to Chinese brush painting. Retrieved on 11th October 2012 from Zhang, W 2004, The four treasures: inside the scholars studio. San Francisco: Long river press. Read More

The brush therefore, became a favorite tool for noblemen and scholars during the ensuing dynasties. The elegance of the purple brush was actually demonstrated in poems such as the Purple Writing Brush written by the famous poet Bai Juyi. Some of the conspicuous lines describing the beauty of the pen include “Sharp and keen at the tip, the purple brush is like an awl or knife.” Nevertheless, the Zhuge family has more recently produced Zhuge brush which was considered the best nationwide. The brush was renowned for its solid foundation at the end of the handle that allowed brushes to stick close to each other.

During that era it was said one Zhuge brush was the equivalent of several common ones. Being exceptionally special, the Chinese brush can be used to make special drawings even in the contemporary world. In particular, they can be used to made historical art works; those meant to have a leave a foot print in the future. The brushes demand great skill and care in use as they do not permit the artist to correct mistakes as is the case in some western art (Rae 2008). The brush is held in a special way due their sensitivity to pressure and movement.

The ink stick The ink stick is yet another indispensible part of Chinese calligraphy and writing. While most people were conversant with the art of making paper, brushes and ink-stones, very few had the knowledge of making ink-stick. Apparently, the wonderful and strange features found in ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphy could only be well portrayed using a special and unique form of pigment (Rae 2008). From the word ‘stick’ one would presume that the ink-stick was form of a stick that could be used for the same purpose as the brush.

Surprisingly, the ink-stick is solid form of ink that the traditional Chinese artists used for easy preservation and transportation of the ink. Before ink-sticks were discovered, Chinese artists used natural ink, also referred to as primitive ink, especially in tortoise-shell augury, in carpentry and for face tattooing. Artificial ink replaced the natural ink during the Han Dynasty. The artificial ink is made from pine soot which is collected by hand and bound together into hard ink stick. Besides pine soot, other types of soot are used in the production of ink-stick such as lacquer soot, petroleum soot and tung oil soot.

Pine soot comes from old pine trees and thus is greasy and thick. It produces black and light ink that can only be used for handwriting but not for painting. Tung oil soot is made from tung seeds and of high quality. It is applicable in both handwriting and painting. Ink-stick have different shapes namely irregular, oval, round, cubic and square. Whatever the shape, ink-sticks are composed of two to six box-like sections. Ink is then mixed inside these sections and pounded until each section contains a complete stick.

With regard to appearance, ink-sticks can be categorized as lacquer-on-the-side, gold-rinsed and original-color. The Huangshan Mountain was the original place for production of ink-stick. Before the end of the five dynasties, the North was the major source of ink-stick due the large multitude of good quality pine trees that grew in the area. Later, wars in the North became so frequent such that pine ink-stick producing areas moved to the south. The most celebrated ink-stick was the Hui-mo, which was produced from the south in Huizhou of Anhui.

The process of grinding ink-sticks was tedious and time consuming. As such calligraphy inks have been recently developed to replace ink-sticks. Ink is endowed with infinite possibilities and thus it can be used in our lives to express subtlety of spirit as well as express the unusual sense of dimension (Chen 2011). Paper Over the years, the vehicles of Chinese calligraphy have changed from oracle bones to silk, bamboo slips and wood slips finally to paper. Paper became the best painting material due to its good quality and cheap price.

It is believed that paper was first discovered in China by Cai Lun during the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Read More