Jing brush, the counterpart of hu brush, refers to brushes made with a traditional technique from northern China. The jing brush requires selective materials and an elaborate process to make. It takes nearly one hundred of steps to finish one brush. Wu has fixed material suppliers who provide him with what he needs at the exact time it is required.
“For example, weasel hair brushes are made of long hairs which are from weasels caught exclusively on the day xiao xue (light snow, one of the 24 solar terms on Chinese lunar calendar).” Wu said.
(The goat hair brush is best known among hu brushes, while brushes made from weasel hair are most famous among jing brushes.)
In addition to the difficulty in mastering the necessary skills, small profit margins are another reason people rarely learn the four treasures crafts. For instance, compared with four treasures in China, prices in Japan are over ten times higher, in part because they have been more heavily promoted there.
“It's urgent to make the traditional technique known to the public, to advertise for masters making the four treasures, and to set up a unified standard for product quality.” Guo Haitang said.
By Li Cheng
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