The invention of letters or characters began by drawing shapes of real objects, such as a disc for the sun and a half disc for the moon. Because of common objects giving off similar impressions, the results of the drawing would necessarily be the same. However, when these generalized pictures were turned into different symbols and the various symbols were formed into different combination, it marked the real beginning of written letters or characters. When the symbols became readable and could represent sentences, a written language was created.
Every nation in the world uses written words as symbols for recording events. But the surface on which to write and the method of writing are different. For example, in ancient times the Egyptians wrote on papyrus, the Babylonians on mud tablets, the Greeks on parchment or animal skin and the Chinese on pieces of wood (besides oracle divinations carved on tortoise shells). Their letters were divided into hieroglyph (representation of objects) and spelling of sounds.
Since the Phoenician language was a composite product of Egyptian, Babylonian and Cretan letters, it became the basis of many written languages of later generations. But the Chinese had their own system of writing. About the time when the Egyptians had their two kinds of hieroglyphs and the Babylonians their cuneiforms, the Chinese people already had invented their characters.
According to the result of research of modern scholars, man lived in North China as far back as 20,000 years ago; Chinese civilization was in existence 10,000 years ago and agricultural society of the neolithic type goes back 5,000 years or more ago. The origin of Chinese characters can be traced to the last period. There were historians and a system of writing in the reign of Huang-ti (about 2,700 B.C.).
According to the records before the Chin dynasty and materials discovered in excavations, we understand that in the time of Emperor Huang-ti there were inventors of Chinese characters besides Tsang Hsieh. The system created by Tsang Hsieh was the only one left to the future because it was systematic and standardized. Primitive Chinese characters were pictures of objects. These pictures evolved into symbols expressed in lines and became hieroglyphics. Primitive picture writing was preserved in the inscriptions on bronzewares of the Yin dynasty. Hieroglyphics on the oracle bones discovered in Yin burial grounds had progressed to the stage of symbols expressed by lines.
Chinese calligraphy is deemed an artistic work. The characters are written with a special kind of tool-the pen-brush.
The Chinese pen-brush was the product of a very early invention. The Po Wu Chih (Annals of Natural Science) by Chang Hua of the Tsin dynasty attributed the invention to Meng T'ien, a general of the Chin dynasty. "The Thousand Words Vocabulary" by Chou Hsin-ssu of the Liang dynasty (502-556 A.D.) had a sentence: "Pen by Meng T'ien and paper by Tsai Lun." When the Tang dynasty (618-907) scholar Han Yu wrote the "Biography of Mao Yin," he personified the pen-brush and metaphorically told the tale of Meng T'ien making the pen-brush from rabbit hair. But the "Notes on Ancient and Modern Events" by Ma Kao, aside from denying the account of making the pen-brush from rabbit hair, pointed out that materials used by Meng T'ien were thorny wood for the shaft, deer's hair for the core of the tip and wool to cover the outside of the tip.
Another tale was that Meng T'ien led 300,000 troops in building the Great Wall in the in north to resist the Hsiung Nu Tribe. While he was superintending construction and training troops, he saw some strands of wool stuck on a brick in the wall. He plucked them and discovered they could be used for writing. After numerous trials, he invented the pen-brush.
This tale is reasonable on first hearing but doubtful when historical facts are reviewed. Meng T'ien was a great general of the Chin dynasty and his biography is found in "The Historical Records" of Ssu-Ma Chien. The biography enumerates his achievements in commanding troops and building the Great Wall but says not a word about his invention of the pen-brush. This event would not have been overlooked by the great historian. The pen-brush used in the Chin and Han dynasties may have been an improved model but he was not the inventor.
Meng T'ien commanded troops in the north where sheep and deer were abundant. People of later generations made up the tale that the First Emperor of Chin ordered him to use the men of his command to make pen-brushes to meet the imperial need.
The earliest account of the origin of Chinese characters is found in the section "Hsi Tsu" or "An Explanation of Prognostics" in The Book of Changes. It said: "The sovereigns of ancient dynasties ruled their people by tying knots. Sages of a later period changed the system to writing and carving so that hundreds of artisans could be controlled and myriads of citizens would be observed." Hsu Shen in the preface to his Lexicon expounded the latter statements: "The Emperor Shen Nung ruled people by tying knots. But due to the complexity of affairs in various professions, falsity arose. The historian Tsang Hsieh, in the reign of Huang-ti, based his observations on the footprints of birds and beasts. He understood that separate measures could be used to deal with different transactions and created written characters to bring hundreds of artisans into order and to observe myriad types of people. The affairs of primitive people were simple; so the system of knot-tying could be used as a means to record transactions. When the transactions became more complex, the old system was insufficient.
Accounts of knot-tying to record numbers and characters are found in the oracle bone script and bronze engraving script. Although character writing had replaced knot tying, this custom still existed for some time after the creation of characters.
The tool for writing Chinese is the "pi" or pen. Let us study the definition of "pi." The character "i" (the original character for "pi") appeared in oracle bone script as * or * and in bronze-engraving script as * or * representing a hand holding a pen. Hsu Shen's Lexicon said. "Pi is an object for writing purposes. It was called 'li' in the state of Chu, 'pu-li' in the state of Wu and p'i' in the state of Yen." According to this definition, we know that "pi" or pen was widely used during the Chin and Han dynasties. The definition of "shu" under the radical of "li" is to write down. Under the radical of "chu" or bamboo are two related characters. The character "chuan" is defined as taking a pen to write. Hsu Chai explained: " 'Chuan' means to write on bamboo memorandum tablets." Tuan Yü-Chai commented: "'Taking a pen to write' means 'to write on bamboo or silk'." The character "chou" is defined as "reading books."
It is evident that "pi" was the sole tool of writing to be used on bamboo, wood or silk. The character "shu" pictures a hand holding a pen to write on a piece of bamboo, wood or silk. So the preface of the Lexicon said: "To write on bamboo or silk is called 'shu'." Hsu Chai explained: " 'Shu' means to write out the fact." The ancient Chinese had the pen to write with in the time of the creation of characters.
The character "li" is in the following form in ancient scripts:
A. "Hsiao chuan" or "seal script minor."
B. The bronze-engraving script: (1) * on the wine pot of Nu Kuei, (2) * on the tripod of Shen Chi. (3) * on the wine pot of Yi Fu Hsin and (4) * on the goblet of Yi Fu Hsin.
C. The oracle bone script: * * *. Wu Ta-chen of the Tsing dynasty and recent scholars Shang Cheng-tso and Chu Yi-p'eng all pointed out that this character was not an ideographic-phonetic character, i.e., a character the radical of which gives an idea of the meaning and the other part the sound. Mr. Wu said: "The ancient character 'li' is in the form of a hand holding a * which is a 'pu-li'." Mr. Shang said of * according to the orthodox explanation: "This in the form of a hand holding a pen is a hieroglyph, not an ideographic-phonetic character. On the Yi Fu Hsin wine pot the character has the same form as in the oracle bone script." Mr. Chu said: "The part * is the symbol or character for the right hand. The other part * or * represents a pen-tip either spreading out or saturated with ink. Though of different form, it decidedly represents a pen. It is an ideographic character."
In the writer's opinion, it is right for Messrs. Wu and Shang to regard the character "li" as hieroglyphic but their conclusion was rather general. Mr. Chu's suggestion of a pen-tip saturated with ink is to the point, but his other idea of a spread-out pen-tip needs consideration. If the character depicts the process of writing, the pen tip must be saturated with ink. Then how can the hair on the tip spread out in such a mode? The character "li" on Yin bronzeware was in the form of * and became * or * later. The trident-like strokes at the bottom of the character might be added later as a sort of ornament. This can be proved by the character * which means an ornament on a pen as defined in the 'Lexion.' If the character * was the original form of "pi," the related character * is a character of ideographic-phonetic nature.
The evolution of Chinese characters followed the road of changing their forms by copying, improving, simplifying and adding strokes to the old system of writing. The reasons for such changes were sometimes due to difference in the way of usage, sometimes due to the development of the art of writing and, finally, due to the invention of printing, which tended to settle the form of the characters. Here our discussion is limited to the influence of the writing tool on changes in the form of the characters.
Romanized letters are often of two kinds: one for writing and the other for engraving. The Chinese characters have the same differentiation. After the Western Chou dynasty, the bronze-engraving script was mostly cast on the object. The oracle divination sentences of the Yin or Shang dynasties were carved on tortoise shells or animal bones. The inscriptions on bronzeware before Western Chou were mostly carved. Memorandum records and correspondences before the Han dynasty were written on bamboo or wood tablets. If errors were made, they were scraped off with a knife. As silk and paper came into wide use, the need for the pen increased.
The bronze-engraving script probably was first written with the pen-brush. As to the oracle script of the Yin dynasty, though some characters were carved after writing, the result was no better than direct carving. The slender and elongated type of characters prevailing in the states of Chi, Hsu and Haü during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Period of Warring States could not be well written without the pen-brush; at least they were written with a soft hair brush. Characters on coins of various states in the period of the Eastern Han dynasty were often cast from characters written with sharpened bamboo or wood sticks.
Although the use of the pen-brush did not begin from Meng T'ien, its use was widely extended after his time. The inscriptions on the "Tieh Chuan Tung Pang" or Bronze Plaque of Iron Springs on which the imperial edict of the First Emperor of Chin was carved and the stone monuments of the Chin dynasty on Lang Ya Terrace and Mt. Tai and inscriptions on polished cliffs and commemorative tablets, inscribed signatures on stone sculptures, inscriptions on the ends of tiles and sides of bricks and wood or bamboo memorandum tablets of the Han dynasty were all carved or molded on the basis of characters written by the pen-brush. (Except for those on tiles, bricks and memorandum tablets, all characters on other objects were written in red ink to be copied in carving). Mr. Tung Tung-ho in his article, "The Evolution of Writing and the Six Classes of Characters," contended that the creation of "li shu" or "square plain script" resulted from the use of the pen-brush as the principal tool of writing. He wrote: "The use of the pen-brush for writing took a longer step forward than the use of the knife for carving and the dipping of a stick into paint for writing. The general use of the pen-brush exerted greater influence on Chinese writing than the change of script style, because it increased the speed of writing." The use of "li shu" in the Han dynasty became the turning point in the evolution of Chinese calligraphy. The invention of paper marked another milestone.
Since the Yin and Chou dynasties the working tools of writing have been the pen-brush, the bamboo pen and the willow-stick pen. Verified by the form of the character "i" in the bronze-engraving and oracle-bone scripts and the use of bamboo pen by the Mo-so tribe nowadays, we cannot deny the existence of other kinds of writing tools besides the pen-brush, though the latter has a long history.
The Mo-so tribe in the frontier district around Likiang in Yunnan province writes with characters invented in the Sung dynasty or not earlier than the Tang dynasty. The writing has not undergone much change. Bamboo is abundant in western Yunnan and it was natural for the tribe to write with bamboo sticks. The writer was told that the pen used by the tribe was fashioned from a slender branch of bamboo sharpened to a piercing tip. When the tip becomes dull, it is sharpened again until the whole stick is used up.
The character for bamboo has not been found in oracle-bone script. But we cannot arbitrarily say that bamboo was not produced in the Yin dynasty.
The character "pi" appeared in the encyclopedia Erh Ya and the Lexicon. It was called "Ii" in the state of Chu, "pu-li" in the state of Wu and "p'i" in the state of Yen. "Li" symbolizes the action of writing; "pu-li" spells the sound of "pi" and "p'i" is a homonym of "pi." Another homonym "pi" means a certain part of a "ko" or spear. It combines with spearhead to become a whole spear. Because there is no way to ascertain the exact shape of an ancient spear, only an approximate picture of the weapon can be inferred from the character in bronze-engraving script. We may deduce the total shape of a "ko" on the basis of the spearhead and other attached parts discovered in fragments. Shih Chang-jü selected a number of characters for "ko" from the hieroglyphic script of the Yin dynasty. The "pi" of a "ko" was symbolized by inverted trident strokes (like the shape of strokes in the character "li") in many of the characters. Thus Mr. Shih said: "The 'pi' of a 'ko' evidently resembled an inverted branch of a tree." Taking the "li" from bronze-engraving script and leaving aside the strokes representing the hand, the remaining inverted branch strokes representing the pen are in the same shape of strokes as those in the character of "pi" of a "ko." Moreover, the two characters of "pi," one for pen and one for a certain part of a "ko," are similar in shape and sound. This similarity may not be accidental. Probably the sound of "pi" for pen is derived from the sound of the part of a "ko." If this is true, then we can prove that the character for pen in ancient script might not represent a pen of the brush type.
Among the ancient Chinese pens still preserved the earliest is the Tang pen-brush in the collection of the Shosoin Museum in Nara, Japan. In January, 1931, the Scientific Investigation Group to the Northwest found at Chu Yen a pen-brush of the Han dynasty which was even earlier than that in the Nara collection. The shaft of this pen-brush was made of four pieces of wood with a tip fixed at one end and a pointed cap at the other, bound with linen and covered with paint to make the tip stay in place. The shaft was of yellowish brown hue. Though the tip had been soaked with ink, white hair could still be seen on its very tip. Ma Shu-ping said this pen-brush was a product of the first decade of Eastern Han dynasty about 1,800 years ago.
Mr. Ma said: "The pen made of hair, bamboo or wood having been preserved for 1,800 years without decay is due to the sandy soil in that region. The shaft of the Chu Yen pen is round and hollowed in the center to hold the tip. Wood was used for the shaft because northwest China lacked bamboo." Ancient records and documents were written on bamboo or wood tablets. Which material was used first we have no way to ascertain. According to Wei T'an of the Wei dynasty quoted in "Chi Ming Yao Hsu," pens of bamboo not fitted with a hair tip were products of the primary stage. They could be used in writing on sand and on walls before the introduction of ink. From the remnants of decayed wood attached to the back part of a bronze bow and from the bamboo designs on a bronze spear discovered at the Yin tombs in Hsiao-tun, it is evident that bamboo may not have been used later than wood. More wood relics have survived because bamboo deteriorates quickly.
A bone pen shaft belonging to the Period of Warring States discovered at a Cheng tomb in Hsin Cheng, Honan province, is older than the Chu Yen pen-brush of the Han dynasty. The writer was told by Kung Ts-sen of an awl-shaped bronze pen made in the Spring and Autumn Period or at the latest in the Period of Warring States. The inscription was forged in a later generation.
The pen-brush was used as a writing tool in China not later than Yin (Shang) times. This is supported by ancient records and archeological findings:
- The chapter on "To shih" of the Book of Chou in the Book of History: "You all know that ancestors of Yin had war and sacrificial records. Yin displaced Hsia by a revolution."
- The chapter on "Honoring Righteousness" in the Works of Mo-tse: "Holy emperors of ancient times wanted to bequeath their administrative principles to the later generations; they had them written on bamboo and silk, engraved on metal and stone and carved on plates and bowls to be inherited by descendants."
- The chapter of "Wei Ling Kung" in the Confucian Analects: "Tze Chang wrote these counsels on the end of his sash."
- The chapter on "Chung Hou" in the Book of History: "The black tortoise carried on its back a chart and came out of the water. The Duke of Chou took a pen and copied the chart in the writing of the period."
- The 13th chapter of the "Records of Warring States": "The Queen said: 'Good!' and took a pen and a tablet to record the counsel."
- The 7th chapter of "Yen Tze Chun Chiu:" "Formerly, my forefather. Duke Huan Kung gave Kuan Chung two feudal areas, the Hu and Ku, comprised of 17 hsien. This favor was recorded on silk and bamboo memorandum tablets and all feudal lords were notified to this effect."
The Bank of Rites mentions that an "historian carries his pen with him" and in the Book of Odes there is a sentence about "presenting me a red pen." Ssu-Ma Chien described Confucius compiling "The Spring and Autumn Annals" thus: "That which should be kept on records was written and that which should be deleted would be scraped off the tablets with a knife. His disciples could not add any better suggestion." Confucius revised the Book of Odes and the Book of History and settled the questions of rites and music. The character for "revise" is "shan" which is composed of the character for "record" and a radical for "knife," ideographically meaning the deleting of errors with a knife. The so-called "bureaucrats of pen and knife" in the Chin and Han dynasties had pen and knife as their principal tools. It is a misinterpretation by people in later generations that they "used the knife as a pen to carve characters on memorandum tablets."
The term "tung kuan" or red pen appeared in the poem on "The Quiet Girl" in the Odes of Pei. The explanatory notes of Cheng Hsuan said: "'Tung Kuan' is a pen with red shaft." Chu I-p'eng, referring to the teaching of scholars of the Tsing dynasty, said: "The traditional explanation of 'tung kuan' was probably mistaken. It should be a red painted tube for holding delicate things such as needles and thread." But in the History of the Eastern Han Dynasty there is a statement: "The lady historian records merits and errors with pen." The terms "tung kung" (or red bow) and "tung shih" (or red arrows) have appeared often in classical writing and bronze inscriptions. The definition of the character "tung" in the Lexicon is red painted. If a bow painted red is "tung kung," a tube painted red is "tung kaun" just the same, whether or not this tube is used for making a pen. Such a tube was usually made of bamboo.
Ancient pens were made of materials native to the environment. The Rhythmic Narration of the Pen by Tsai Yung of the Han dynasty has the following lines:
"Cutting veined bamboo for the shaft, with paint and silk it is bound."
Fu Hsuan of the Tsin dynasty wrote:
"With white linen to bind it,
And with black paint to adorn it."
The History of Tsin said that in the time of Emperor Hui-ti there was a folksong with the line: "Pen of thorny wood and tablets of willow board to write the emperor's edict." The "Notes on Ancient and Modern Events" by Tsui Pao said: "In ancient times when there were writing and carving there must have been a pen... Its shaft was made of dry wood."
The earliest discussion of the pen-tip is found in the "Works of Chuang Tze," which said: "Licking the pen saturated with ink." A pen saturated with ink must be a pen-brush. "Ink and pen" or "pen and ink" were often mentioned in writing. The "Extra Commentary of the Odes of Han" said: "When Chou She was serving under Chao Kien Tze he followed his master with ink, pen and memorandum tablets in order to record his master's mistakes." The chapter of "Pa Hsing" in the Works of Kuan Tze said: "All officials were instructed to have pen and ink ready." The chapter on "Measuring Knowledge" in the "Lung Heng" said: "Cutting bamboo into tubes, breaking them into tablets and writing on them with pen and ink, the records are made." Since time prior to the Chin dynasty, pen-brush and ink were customarily used and the writing was put on memorandum tablets.
As to writing in red ink, the Book of Rites of Tai the Senior said: "The Emperor Wu Wang asked: 'Were the ways of Emperors Huang-ti and Chuan Hsiu still existent? ' The Elder Master Kiang Shang replied: 'They have been recorded in the Book of Red Writing. The Tso Commentary of the Spring and Autumn Annals said: "Tsui Pao was a clerk yet his name was recorded in the Book of Red Letters." Although these statements do not mention the tool for writing, the pen-brush must have been used. These are points of evidence:
- Oracle bones and broken pieces of earthenware excavated from the Yin Burial Ground bore red characters written by pen-brush.
- A colored painting on a piece of thin silk excavated from an ancient tomb in Changsha, Hunan, seemed to have been drawn by a pen-brush, though the characters were not written in red ink.
- A lacquered dressing case of the Period of Warring States discovered in Changha showed coloring in red and black hues and soft lines requiring the pen-brush.
- In the winter of 1935, the tomb of Chang Hsu Chin built in the second year of Hsi Ping of the Han dynasty was discovered in Shansi. Six big bricks and an earthen basin bore 229 red characters written by pen-brush.
- On a Han brick excavated at Chin Tsun in Loyang are three characters written by pen-brush.
- In 1944, when the archeological section of the Scientific Investigation Group to the Northwest was carrying out excavations at Fu Yeh Miao, northwest of Tunhuang, a small earthen pot of Chiai make was found in a tomb of the Six Dynasties. On the pot are several columns of red characters in "running script" and "square plain script" written with pen-brush.
- Characters carved on commemorative tablets and pillars were written in red copies prior to carving. These characters had to be done with the pen-brush.
The objects used in red writing (stone articles, earthenware, tortoise shell, animal bones, silk, etc.) covered a wide range. But the use of red characters was limited to writings for affairs of the imperial family, oracular divinations, sacrificial services and prayers for good fortune.
The characters in use in the Yin dynasty are found on oracle bones, bronzeware, jade, stone and earthenware. Characters written on bamboo, wood and silk have not been found because these materials deteriorated.
Tung Tso-ping claimed: "The phrase 'as His Majesty says' usually found in ancient writings and bronzeware inscriptions was required in official documents and was a customary opening for every memorandum tablet. The same phrase on oracle bones must be a transcription from memorandum records. This is an important proof that the people of the Yin dynasty had memorandum records besides those carved on oracle bones and engraved on bronzewares." In the article on "The Ancient Meaning of the Phrase 'As His Majesty Says,' " many examples were enumerated to prove the existence of sacrifices and war in the Yin dynasty. The conclusion was as follows: "The memorandum records of the Yin dynasty have been lost. We know that the phrase 'As His Majesty says' was the initial phrase of every memorandum record. Event-recording sentences engraved on bronzeware or carved on stone were in a documentary style of writing similar to that of later generations and in columns from top to bottom and from right to left. Moreover, ancient people had records of sacrifices called 'tien' and records of war called 'tse'. From this circumstantial evidence we are able to ascertain the existence of memorandum records in the Yin dynasty. The chapter on 'To Shih' in the Book of History said: 'You all know that ancestors of Yin had war and sacrificial records. Yin displaced Hsia by a revolution.' The authenticity of the latter statement will be evidenced by the newly found historical material and is an important question in the study of the history of civilization of the Yin dynasty." Memorandum records in the Yin dynasty must have been written with a pen.
No memorandum tablets with carved characters have been discovered. No such account can be found in the books of the past. A kind of bone -tablet inscription was listed in the oracle bone script collection of "Shuang Chien Chi" as Nos. 212 and 213. Tung Tso-ping took them as the only concrete evidence of existence of memorandum records from the Yin dynasty. He also said: "This bone tablet is 20 cm long and 5 cm wide. We think that two-thirds of the whole piece has been destroyed. The characters on the front face deal with recording of events. Those which remain at present consist of five columns and a total number of 56 characters, 10 of which are combined characters. The whole record on this face should be over 160 characters. A table of cyclical characters of stems and branches was carved on the back for the purpose of finding dates. The style of characters belonged to the fifth period of oracle bone script. The 'His Majesty' mentioned there was either Emperor Ti-I or Emperor Ti-Hsin." If the sacrificial and war records of the Yin dynasty or earlier times could sometimes be made of animal bones, they also could be made of bamboo or wood. But due to easy decay, these materials became lost to future generations. On the evidence of oracle bone inscriptions, this bone tablet might have been carved after characters were written.
According to the research of Chen Meng-chia, the exact date of compilation of the 29 chapters of "The Modern Version of the Book of History" is not easy to ascertain. In general it was compiled in the Eastern Chou dynasty. Since the chapters were arranged according to the order of dynasties, the compilation might have begun during the Period of Warring States. This can be proved by the fact that the "Works of Mencius" did not adopt such an arrangement. But Tso's Commentary and the "Records of Warring States" were compiled in the order of three parts called the "Book of Hsia," the "Book of Shang" and the "Book of Chou." As to the literary style in the book, the imperial decrees or "kao ming" were the earliest. In the bronze inscriptions of the Western Chou dynasty, the term "ming shu" or "decree writing" was sometimes simply written as "shu" or "writing." The earliest literary style may be found in the decrees. The Book of Rites said: "The speech of an emperor was recorded by his 'righthand historian'." The preface of Lexicon said: "That which is recorded on bamboo or silk is called 'shu'." Tung Tso-ping thought such records were kept by the "righthand historian." These were called "cha tse" before the reign of Emperor Mu Wang of the Chou dynasty and later were called "inside history." Their records were written evidence of what the emperor said, so each speech had to begin with the phrase "as His Majesty says." Inasmuch as the imperial speech' had to be recorded, such writing would be done with pen for convenience and not by carving, which is time consuming.
Although the memorandum records of the Hsia, Shang and Chou dynasties have been lost, an examination of the existing ancient relics listed below may give us some idea of the writing tool at that time.
- The bone tablet: Both sides of the tablet were carved with characters belonging to the fifth period of oracle bone script (at the time of Emperor Ti-I or Ti-Hsin). The style of characters was similar to the general trend of writing on other oracle bones. Probably the carving was done on written characters.
- Tortoise shell and animal bones: During the excavation of the Yin Burial Ground by the Academia Sinica, many tortoise shells and animal bones were discovered with pen-brush written characters in red or black ink. Some characters were half carved and others wholly uncarved. According to two articles by Tung Tso-ping, "The Writing and Carving of the Yin Dynasty" and the "Oracle Bone Script Discovered in Hou Chia Chuang, Anyang" the characters were written first, then carved. The carving was done with vertical strokes first, then the horizontals. In the uncarved strokes he found red as well black ones. Tung proved that the tool used was the pen-brush. The biggest character was the size of a thumb and small ones were as tiny as a fly's head; these could not be written without the pen-brush. Chang Ping-Chuan said: "The divining sentences on the oracle bones were mostly carved and occasionally written. From the written characters we can see that they were written with a pen of elastic tip similar to those used in later generations. As to the carved characters, some of them were written before carving and some were carved directly."
- Broken pieces of earthenware: In 1932 the Academia Sinica, in its seventh excavation at the Yin Burial Ground north of Hsiao-tun village in Anyang, Honan province, found a broken piece of white earthenware on which appeared the character "ssu," meaning sacrifice. According to Tung Tso-ping's interpretation, it was a remnant character of a sentence about the emperor offering a sacrifice.
- The jade fish: During the excavation of the Yin Burial Ground by the Academia Sinica, a jade fish was discovered on which were three characters. Tung Tso-Ping said it was used in prayer to drive away the evil spirits of sickness. From their appearance the characters were written with the pen-brush.
- Materials for making the pen-brush: Among the ancient relics discovered in the Yin Burial Ground were remnants of animal bones. Characters for sheep, hare and other animals were found on the oracle bones. The materials for making the pen-brush may not have been different from those of today.
- Inscriptions on bronzeware: From the way of writing on bronzewares of the Shang and Chou dynasties, many apparently were written with pen-brush. For example, the tiny-sized inscriptions on the Lü Chi Bell (10 characters in 1.6 Chinese inches) and on the Sacrificial Vessel of Yin Tzu, the Marquis of Chen (10 characters in 2.8 Chinese inches) could not have been done without the pen-brush. C. Takada of Japan and Professor W. Perceval Yetts of England were of the opinion that the inscriptions were written first on wood or silk to be copied on bronze. The form of the writing showed the characters were not written with a hard wood pen.
- Jade memorandum tablet: The jade and stone memorandum tablets excavated from Hsinyang, Honan province, had black "chou" style characters on them. The location of the discovery, the script style and the calligraphy show them to be similar to the conditions fitting for the Piao Chiang Bell of the Spring and Autumn Period. The pen-brush for such characters would be made of comparatively soft hair.
- Writing on silk: A scroll of painting called the "Shin Chan Shen Wu Tu" or "The Picture of Divination from a Supernatural Thing" discovered in the Chu tomb at Changsha, Hunan province, was the earliest writing on silk. The characters in seal script were written with a pen-brush.
- Writing on "chien" and seal on mud: According to research by Prof. Wang Kuo-wei, the ancient method of sealing was to cover the memorandum tablets with two pieces of wider wood board called "chien" and bind them with twine. In the middle of the upper "chien" was a hollow square for holding the ends of the twine. In this square, a piece of soft mud was inserted and on the mud, a seal was stamped leaving an imprint to ensure secrecy. At the same time the name of the receiver was written on the "chien." Professor Wang said the seal originated in writing on memorandum tablets. This opinion is borne out by the existence of bronze seals in the Yin dynasty. The name of the receiver of the "chien" was naturally written with a pen. The imprints of seal were of two types: incised and relief. Irrespective of the kind of script, the characters on the seal had to be written prior to carving and also had to be written by an experienced calligrapher to assure a high artistic standard.
- Stone drums: These were sculptured in the reign of Duke Ling Kung of Chin about 422 B.C. The style of writing carved on the drums resembled the "seal script minor" but with slightly more complex strokes. The writing tool used before carving was the pen-brush.
- Bamboo and wood memorandum tablets: These are mostly of the Han and Chin periods. The characters were written in black ink, especially on those of the Han dynasty. The "li shu" on these tablets was 90 per cent written with pen-brush. Though the memorandum tablets of the Shang and Chou dynasties have been lost, they probably had more written characters than carved writing.
In summary, we can say:
1. The primitive writing tools of China were the pen-brush and the pen made of bamboo (including the "bamboo stick") and wood (including the willow stick and small sticks to dip into paint). Except that the detail of ancient wood pens remains to be proven, the materials for making pen-tip and shaft were varied according to accounts of the Han and Tsin dynasties.
2. Though the pen-brush has been used as the principal tool for writing since the Yin dynasty, there must have been a primitive pen of the "bamboo stick" class in use before the invention of the pen-brush. Contemporary with the pen-brush in the Yin dynasty were such other writing tools as the wooden shaft pen and bamboo stick.
3. The statement "written on bamboo and silk, engraved on metal and stone and carved on vessel" was often found in writings prior to the Chin dynasty. To put down characters on bamboo was called "to write" not "to carve." It is evident that the memorandum tablets at that time were written, not carved.
4. The creation of signet and seal carne at the time memorandum tablets were used for recording. According to the definitions, signet and seal are: "Signet means a thing to be movable," i.e., the documents sealed by a signet may be sent from place to place but are not to be opened. "Seal means a thing to be confided." Sealed documents are not to be opened. There were records in the Yin dynasty made of bamboo or wood and written with pen-brush. Tuan Mou-tang said, "When signet or seal was used in the Yin dynasty, it was to be stamped on silk, not on bamboo or wood." Prof. Wang Kuo-wei said: "Ancient people stamped their signet or seal on mud, never on cloth and silk." Tuan had forgotten the sealing on mud in the square hole of the chien. Prof. Wang neglected the fact that cloth and silk were in use very early. Both opinions are one-sided.
5. Some may say that as characters on bone tablets of the Yin dynasty have been found carved, the characters on bamboo memorandum tablets at that time were carved. This is not necessarily true. The surface of bone is slippery. Ink will not adhere and carving is required. When carving is done on bamboo or wood, the knife has to follow the fiber of the object; the characters will be square, not curved. When characters are written on bamboo or wood, the ink can penetrate, writing would be quicker and more convenient than carving.
6. It is true that traces of red ink have been discovered on characters carved on oracle bones. Then why do we seldom find such a phenomenon in inscriptions on bronzewares? Bronzewares made after the Western Chou dynasty were mostly cast characters on those made prior to this period which were carved on the basis of written characters in red ink. Since the surface of bronze is smooth, the edges of a character left uncarved would be erased by rubbing, while the flat, rugged surface of tortoise shell would retain traces of uncarved red ink.
7. During the period of about 1,150 years from the Chin to the Sui and T'ang dynasties, "li shu" or "square plain script" was the most widely used style of writing. "Li shu" carne before Li Ssu improved the "seal script major" into the "seal script minor." The creation of "li shu" came after the pen was the principal tool of writing. Meng T'ien's improved method of pen-brush making helped the artisan improve his skill and extended the use of pen-brush far and wide. An increase of speed in Chinese calligraphy depended upon the creation of "li shu" and the wide use of the pen-brush.
"Li shu" was used from the Chin through the Han, Wei, the Six dynasties, Sui and T'ang dynasties. After the T'ang, though the style was still in use, it was not so popular as before because of the use of other styles.
"Li shu" was widely used in the Han dynasty. The writing style of "li shu" on Han commemorative and memorandum tablets did not vary with the object. Inscriptions on the commemorative tablets were carved on the basis of red characters written with pen-brush and those on memorandum tablets were written on bamboo or wood tablets with pen-brush.
8. The way of using primitive writing tools in China, whether bamboo, stick or wood pen, probably was the same as that of the Mo-So tribe in using the bam boo pen. As to the shape of the pen-brush of the Yin dynasty, though we lack any concrete evidence, it probably was made with a bamboo shaft and a tip bound with silk or linen and covered with paint to keep it firm. Some say this was the shape of the pen-brush after the T'ang dynasty but not during the Yin and Chou dynasties. To this we may reply: The wood of the Chu Yen pen of the Han dynasty was cut into four pieces. But we should not deem it a prototype for all Han pen-brushes, to say nothing of Yin pens. Due to the lack of bamboo on the Western frontier, wood was used and cut into four pieces, bound with linen, painted and fitted with a tip on one end and a pointed cap on the other. Wood was a substitute for bamboo. It is absurd to believe that people of China proper used this kind of Chu Yen pen instead of using the modern type of pen-brush.
Easy and convenient ways of doing things do not change from generation to generation. Complex processes undergo many changes within a brief time. The "Kuan cheng tze" type of pen-brush was invented not later than the Yin dynasty. From the Eastern Chou dynasty to the present, a period of 2,600 years, the shape and materials have not undergone many changes. The Chu Yen style pen-brush is not only out of use today but was not used in China proper during ancient times. Its use was confined to the northwestern frontier where bamboo was lacking. So it was not recorded in ancient writings. The pen-brush of the Yin and Chou dynasties resembled the pen-brush of today.