Fu Shaojie: Dedicated to making ink brushes - Craft

Editor's note: When it comes to making ink brushes, Fu Shaojie has always been very careful. Born in a family of brush making for generations, Fu said the ink-brush quality represents reputation of the whole clan. Only by setting down to business and exempting himself from disturbances, can he concentrate on the craft and thus produce quality ink brushes.

The Mohuitang ink-brush store in downtown Kunming, central Yunnan province (Daguan Weekly/Zhang Yongqiang)

Fu Shaojie: Dedicated to making ink brushes

The ink brush, or brush pen, is a traditional Chinese tool for writing and painting. Entering the Mohuitang ink-brush store, visitors were impressed by countless ink brushes in various types. All the brushes were handmade by Fu Shaojie, the store owner.

Fu Shaojie was born in a family with a brush making tradition for generations in the Wenxiang town, east China’s Jiangxi province, where bamboos are fit for making handles of brush pens. For almost a century, townsmen there have made a living by making brush pens, and families with an ink brush mill abounded in the town. At age 14, Fu picked up making brush pens, but the playful boy was careless and often subject to punishments in the family.

Fu Shaojie, the store owner (Daguan Weekly/Zhang Yongqiang)

In 1995, 19-year-old Fu Shaojie came to Kunming alone for a living. As a new comer, Fu was not sure what to do at first. One day, Fu saw someone selling brush pens in the street, and it occurred to him that he could get into the brush-pen trade. “Since I’ve been making brush pens for five years, why not pass down the traditional craft of making brush pens and sell them for a living?” said he. From then on, Fu purchased raw materials from his hometown, and made them into brush pens for selling. Beginning with a street vendor, he had gone through diverse difficulties over the years. In 2000, Fu opened his first brush-pen store.

“On the day of opening the brush-pen store, the pleasure in my heart was beyond words,” said Fu. “Now I carve my name onto all the brush pens I made, and I told my customers that the pens came from Wenxiang, Jiangxi province.” He wanted to create his own brand, so that the craft of making brush pens could be passed down to future generations.

Ink brushes at the Mohuitang store (Daguan Weekly/Zhang Yongqiang)

“Making brush pens involves 20 major working procedures, which can be further divided into over 100 minor steps,” said Fu Shaojie, adding good hair should be chosen for it defines brush’s quality. In choosing the hair, it needs to be repeatedly combed and washed bit by bit so that the flawed hair could be rid of. Then the selected hair bits are sorted according to their color, texture and size.

As for making the ink brushes, Fu Shaojie has always been very careful. From hair choosing to assembling, he finishes all the procedures by himself. “What’s a good ink brush? To put it simply, a good ink brush shows no hair split or hair slip; specifically, better ink brushes are more flexible.” Fu said the brush quality represents not only his own name but also reputation of the whole clan. Only by setting down to business and exempting himself from disturbances, can he concentrate on the craft and thus produce quality ink brushes.

Ink brushes at the Mohuitang store (Daguan Weekly/Zhang Yongqiang)

A Chinese handwriting out of ink brushes at the Mohuitang store (Daguan Weekly/Zhang Yongqiang)

Reporting by Lai Hongjing; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue