CCTV News (News Network): As a traditional Chinese writing and painting tool, brushes rank first among the four treasures of the study "brush, ink, paper and inkstone". It is not only a practical tool, but also a symbol and carrier of Chinese culture, containing rich cultural connotations. In the "Cultural China Tour" on May 12, we will learn about the Chinese brushes that have been passed down for thousands of years.

The earliest existing brush in my country was a brush unearthed in 1954 in the Chu tomb of Zuojiagong during the Warring States Period in Changsha City, Hunan Province. The total length is 21 cm. When the brush was unearthed, it was placed in a pen holder made of bamboo tube. The pen holder was round solid bamboo. The tip of the pen was wrapped with rabbit arrows on the outside of the pen holder. After wrapping it with hemp silk, it was glued with lacquer juice, and the tip of the pen was straightened.

According to research, by the Tang Dynasty, the brush making process gradually improved, and Xuanzhou, Anhui became the home of pen making in the country. By the Yuan Dynasty, the Huzhou area in Zhejiang Province became a new pen making center and has continued to this day.

The production process of the lake pen is complicated, and it requires 8 major processes such as material selection, water basin, and knots, and 128 mini programs, all of which need to be made by hand. "Pick a tiny of thousands of hairs. Although the hair is light, the effect is very heavy." In the study of Hub pen making skills, each process requires at least three years to learn before initially mastering the production skills. It takes longer to do it well.

Wear brushes are generally divided into wool brushes, wolf hair brushes, and rabbit hair (purple hair) brushes. The pen makers choose to combine the advantages of various wool materials to make a trouser brush. Among them, the characteristics of wool brushes are delicate and changeable ink colors, the rabbit hair brush is the most powerful, while the double hair brush has multiple styles.

The brush not only records the history and civilization of the Chinese nation for thousands of years, but also promotes the development of Chinese calligraphy, painting and other arts. A brush embodies the craftsman spirit and cultural sentiment of generations of pen makers over thousands of years. In Shanlian Town, Huzhou, the birthplace of Huzhou, every household can make pens, and it has been passed down from generation to generation, with a history of nearly 2,000 years.