Generally, Chinese painting is drawn on the rice paper. We can also find the beautiful Chinese pictures in the fans, bowls, porcelain and dishes when we are shopping in the tourist spot like streets or some special restaurants. What is more, the Chinese pictures are also drawn on the silk, screens, even on many ancient tombs' walls. Therefore, Chinese painting is really a very typical form of Chinese fine arts (Materials and Tools for Chinese painting, n.d.).
There are several tools used in traditional Chinese painting, which are writing brush, paintbrush, ink-stick, ink-stone, ink, traditional paint and special paper or silk and so on. Among the various tools of calligraphy, writing brush is peculiar to China. The brushes are varied , white goat's hair, black rabbit's hair and yellow weasel's hair are three major types of brushes to be mentioned (Materials and Tools for Chinese painting, n.d.). On the basis of the function of tip, the brushes are distributed into three groups: "hard", "soft" and "both". The handle is made of not only wood, bamboo, porcelain and lacquer, but also some precious materials like mother-of-pearl inlay, ivory and jade.
*Four treasures of the study: Brush, ink-stick, paper, and ink-stone.
*Various type of brushes
The ink-stick is the unique pigment of Chinese traditional painting and calligraphy. At the initial stage natural ink or half-natural ink was generally used (Materials and Tools for Chinese painting, n.d.).
*The ink-stick
*Ink-stick and brushes
Paper is one of the most famous Chinese inventions- one of the four great inventions ( Stevenh, 2009). It is widely accepted that paper was invented by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han (105 A.D.). After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, paper extensively used instead of traditional writing materials such as bamboo slip and silks (Stevenh, 2009).
*Drawn on rice paper.
Ink-stone is the most important of "four treasures of the study", because of its solid texture, ink-stone can be handed down from ancient times. The ink slab is indispensable for Chinese calligraphy, it is also called ink stone or ink tile. The ink made by grinding an ink stick on a good ink slab is fine, smooth and suiting the brush. Either for calligraphy or painting, it is an essential tool. At the same time a good ink slab concentrates in it the art of painting, calligraphy, sculpture and word carrying, making itself not only a valuable practical cultural instrument but also a handicraft with a high artistic value (Materials and Tools for Chinese painting, n.d.).
*Ink-stone
*Ink-stone made by jade with a dragon designed.
References:
Stevenh, (2009). 10 Great Ancient Chinese Inventions. Retrieved from http://listverse.com/2009/04/18/10-great-ancient-chinese-inventions/
Materials and Tools for Chinese painting. (n.d.). Sino Impression. Retrieved from http://www.sino-impression.com/Culture2008425165249.html
Photo References:
Japanese Calligraphy: Tools. (n.d.). Japanese Calligraphy-Headquarters-. Retrieved from http://japanesecalligraphyhq.com/?p=67
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