Sanqing Book House (Pen)

Author: (Japan) Motoharu Hongo
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2005-04-01
Features: Over ten years ago, the author encountered an ancient Han Dynasty pen unearthed from Wuwei ruins at the Lanzhou Museum in Gansu. It was a simple-looking pen with a wooden body and an animal hide-tipped nib. The pen held no craftsmanship value, nor did it evoke the expected aesthetic of an ancient writing instrument. However, the inscriptions on the pen body—"Bai Ma made," "Shi Hu made"—never left my mind. I believe these two pens, bearing the names of the craftsmen who made them, must be among the oldest in history! While paper and ink as writing mediums can be preserved, used pens are discarded. My reverence for the pen craftsmen of each era who dedicated themselves to making brushes became the motivation for publishing this book. The ancient pens included here are arranged in the order of the Ming, Qing, and Republican periods. Most brushes bearing the names of scholars or craftsmen are placed in the era when these scholars were active. However, much uncertainty remains regarding the birth and death dates of these craftsmen. Even in Chinese literature, records of these craftsmen are scarce. The question that particularly concerns me is when people began to inscribe the names of craftsmen, production dates, brush tip materials, makers, and inscriptions on the pen bodies.