Beijing Weekend

By tradition, China's scholarly elite pursued artistic achievement alongside a study of the Confucian Classics - requiring four "treasures" --- ink, ink stone, paper and brush.

These are known as wen fang si bao in Chinese.

These days, the return of the four simple treasures to the desks of scholars, more often than not, has little to do with the pursuit of Chinese calligraphy and painting.

They are not just useful implements for writing but beautiful objects of art or ornaments in the study.

You may set them in your own study or send them as a unique gift to friends.

The essence of each is respectively xuan paper and hui ink stick from Anhui, duan ink stone from Guangdong and the hu writing brush from Zhejiang.

Hu brush

The hu brush, the most famous brush, is produced originally in Huzhou, now the city of Wuxing, Zhejiang Province. Its stick is made of a special bamboo called chicken hair bamboo, grown in Huzhou's neighbouring city, Jiaxing. The knots of the bamboo are far apart and with very thin hollows inside.

The goat hair brush is the best known among hu brushes. On the flat plains near Huzhou, there are goats with hair tips which are transparent. These hairs are supple and easy to dye with ink. So one way to identify the hu goat hair brush is by looking at the tip.

Price: 5 yuan (US 60 cents) to 150 yuan (US$18)

Hui ink stick

Ink is made from a mixture of soot and resin, molded into stick form. The most commonly used to make ink are pine soot, oil soot and lacquer soot. A good ink stick is finely grained and has an even and smooth texture. It is firm and not sticky. It is pure, solid black in colour and smooth. The control of hue is crucial to the success of a work in ink.

Price: 4 yuan (US48 cents) to 50 yuan (US$6)

Xuan paper

Paper is of many kinds, but Xuan paper has been considered best throughout the ages for Chinese calligraphy. Xuan paper is produced in Jing County, Anhui Province. The county was under the jurisdiction of Xuanzhou Prefecture in the Tang Dynasty.

That is whv Jing County paper is called Xuan paper. The paper is soft and fine textured, suitable for conveying the artistic expression of both Chinese calligraphy and painting.

Xuan paper has good tensile strength and not easily eaten by moths. It can be preserved for a long time. It therefore has the reputation of lasting a thousand years.

There are numerous kinds of Xuan paper, such as dan, jia, luowen, coral, tiger-skin and jade-plate.

Xuan paper for painting and calligraphy is rather expensive. Beginners can use coarser, rougher paper instead. More commonly used paper includes yuanshu, maobian and baima.

Price: 3 yuan (US36 cents) to 400 yuan (US$48) for a piece of varied sizes

Duan ink stone

To use ink in the traditional stick form, an ink stone is required. As the name suggests, most ink stones are made of stone or bricks. The stone used must be of relatively fine whetstone materials to facilitate the grinding of the ink without harming the bristles of the brush pen.

The ink stone of Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, known as duanyan in Chinese or duan ink stone, has always been part of the writing kit of Chinese scholars.

As early as the Tang Dynasty (AD618-907), an ink stone from Duanzhou was already considered a rare, valuable possession by many scholars.

Made of stone that was formed by marine deposit, the Duan ink stone is dark purple in colour. As it is extremely fine-grained, the surface is glossy and smooth, like silk. Not only is it friendly to ink sticks and writing brushes alike but it does not dry easily.

Price: 8 yuan (US 96 cents) to 1,000 yuan (US$120)