As for traditional Chinese painting, brushes are subdivided into landscape-painting brushes, flower-and-plant painting brushes, figure-painting brushes, ribs-of-leaves drawing brushes, clothing-line drawing brushes, color-drawing brushes, etc.
Notes：1）categorize把……归类；2）sandalwood檀香木；3）ivory象牙；4）rhinoceros犀牛；5）mother-of-pearl珍珠母；6）inlay镶补；7）rib凸条花纹
11.什么是墨？
What is ink-stick?
The ink-stick is the unique pigment of Chinese traditional painting and calligraphy. Legend says that King Yi first invented the ink-stick about 2,800 years ago, yet archaeologists have detected ink marks on the back of inscribed bones or tortoise shells dating back to the Shang Dynasty. It was during the Han Dynasty that artificial ink was produced.“Yumi-mo (愉麋墨)”ink-stick was considered the most famous ink-stick at that time. It was produced at the present site of Qianyang County (千阳县), Shan’xi Province (陕西省). Its raw materials consist of pine, oil and lacquer. Before the Five Dynasties, the ink-production center was located in North China. Then, it gradually moved to the South. At present, the most well-known South ink-stick is“hui-mo (徽墨),”produced in Huizhou (徽州), Anhui Province. This ink-stick, being made of burnt pine soot, is as hard as stone and does not deteriorate during at least ten years. Generally, ink sticks fall into three major categories based on the main materials which used in ink production: 1) the pine-soot ink-stick,2) the oil-soot ink stick, 3) the oil-soot and pine-soot ink-stick.
Notes：1）pigment颜料；2）archaeologist考古学家；3）in-scribe刻；4）soot煤烟，烟灰；5）deteriorate变坏
12.什么是安徽宣纸？
What is xuan paper in Anhui?
Paper is a Chinese invention, and it is widely accepted that paper was invented by Cai Lun (蔡伦) of the Eastern Han Dynasty. After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, paper was extensively used instead of bamboo slips and silk, and in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the paper production industry became prosperous.
During the Tang Dynasty Jing County of Anhui produced a kind of writing paper for Chinese painting and calligraphy. Jing County was under the official administration of Xuanzhou Prefecture (宣州), and its paper was usually transported to Xuanzhou before it was distributed elsewhere. Gradually people called this type of paper as xuan paper.
Xuan paper absorbs ink well and shows clearly the lines and strokes. It has great tensile strength, and it retains its quality for a long time. Artists prefer using xuan paper mainly because their paintings and calligraphy can last many years. But xuan paper is expensive, so beginners often use coarse paper for their daily calligraphy or painting practice.
There are numerous types of xuan paper. One category includes three types of xuan paper: shengxuan paper (生宣), shuxuan paper (熟宣) and semi-shuxuan paper (半熟宣).
Sheng means“unprocessed”or“unrefined.”The paper of this type is made without going through any refined process. Shengxuan paper easily absorbs and seeps ink or water, so freehand landscape paintings drawn on the paper of this type clearly show rich variations and line shades of ink strokes.
Shu means“processed,”or“refined.”The paper of this type is made through a refined process. During the process a xuan papermaker dissolves alum in water and then brushes shengxuan paper with the alum water. Shuxuan paper is tougher than shengxuan paper, and its water or ink absorbency is weak. Due to these facts, shuxuan paper suits meticulous brushwork of traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy.
Semi-shu means“semi-refined.”It is the third type of xuan paper, and its water absorbency is somewhat between that of shengxuan paper and shuxuan paper. Landscape painters tend to use semi-shuxuan paper not only because the paper of this type exhibits the variations of ink strokes, but also has no much water or ink absorbency.
Notes：1）bamboo slip竹简；2）transport运输；3）absorb吸收；4）tensile可伸展的；5）coarse粗的；6）unprocessed未处理的；7）unrefined未精炼的；9）variation变化；10）dissolve使溶解；11）alum明矾；12）absorbency吸收性；13）semi-refined半精炼的
13.什么是砚？
What is ink-stone?
When the ink slab was invented is rather controversial.
Archaeologists have discovered from the ruins, dating back to the primitive society, simple stone ink-slabs on which pigments were ground by a pestle (研磨器).
During the Han Dynasty, artificial ink-sticks gradually replaced pestles, and stone, pottery, lacquer or copper ink-holders came into being. Most popular were the round-shaped and three-or-four-legged ink-stones (圆形三足式、四足式石砚). During the Wei Dynasty, porcelain ink-holders came into being. However, most ink-holders were made of stones.
Chinese ink-stones are flat and hard and are shaped into beautiful objects. Since the Tang Dynasty, ink-stones have been classified into three main categories: Duan Ink-stone from Guangdong (广东端砚), Hongsi Ink-stone from Shandong (山东红丝砚) and Tao Ink-stone from Gansu (甘肃洮砚).
The regular process is that calligraphist drops water on the ink-stone, and then grinds an ink-stick against it. Gradually the water becomes inky black for use in calligraphic practice.