Four Treasures of the Study The writing brush, inkstick, inkstone, and paper were requisite treasures in the study of the scholars of ancient China, and they are often referred to as the “Four Treasures of the Study.” The writing brush and inkstick have beenused by the Chinese to write and paint since 5,000 years ago. In the Qin Dynasty(221BC—206BC), people already used feathers of different hardness and bamboo trunks to make brushes. During the HanDynasty(206BC—220AD), man-made ink was used instead of natural ink. After paperwas invented by the Chinese, bamboo slips, wooden tablets, brocade and silk, which originally functioned as writing surfaces, gradually faded out. The inkstone was first developed with the use of writing brushes and ink. After the Song Dynasty(960AD—1279AD), the “Four Treasures of the Study” particularly referred to hubi, the writing brush produced in Huzhou, Zhangjiang province; huimo, the inkstick produced in Huizhou, Anhui province; xuan paper, a kind of paper produced in Xuanzhou, Anhui province; and duanyan, the inkstone made in Zhapqing, Guang dong province (Zhaoqing was earlier called Duanzhou). Indeed, the “Four Treasures of the Study” have written the whole Chinese civilization, as it is.
笔墨纸砚是中国古代文人书房中必备的宝贝，被称为“文房四宝”。用笔墨书写绘画在 中国可追溯到五千年前。秦(前 221---前 206)时已用不同硬度的毛和竹管制笔;汉代(前 206—公元 220)以人工制墨替代了天然墨;有了纸张之后，简牍锦帛逐失其用;砚台则随笔墨的使用而发展。“文房四宝”到宋朝(960--1279)以后特指湖笔(浙江湖州)、徽墨(安徽徽州)、宣纸(安徽宣州) 、端砚(广东肇庆，古称端州)可以说文房四宝书写了整个中华文明。