Seeing the word "four treasures" in the study room, everyone will definitely blurt out four words, pen and ink paper. Yes, the relationship between these four things and Chinese literati is inseparable, and it can even be said that in a sense, pen, ink and paper are important objects for the soul of Chinese literati.
As early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties before the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period, the ancients began the journey of making stationery, and jade stationery appeared on the stage of Chinese history. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the emergence of lacquerware stationery greatly reduced the cost of Chinese manufacturing stationery. Of course, as early as the Hemudu civilization and the Shang and Zhou civilizations, Chinese began to make and use lacquerware, but the real large-scale promotion of lacquerware stationery was in the Spring and Autumn Warring States period.
At that time, the princes and monarchs had already begun to open private lacquer gardens, such as the Zhuangzi we know as the former lacquer garden official. It is conceivable that as the F4 of the stationery industry, in this era of unprecedented development of lacquerware civilization, pen and ink paper can be more popular than lacquerware stationery with different materials, and how great hardships to pay.
The pen of the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period refers specifically to the brush, which is said to be a stationery that originated from the Qin general Meng Tian. According to research, as early as the Neolithic period, traces of depiction appeared on China's faience pottery. In the Xia Shang period, because people often had to divinate on oracle bones, in order to save the time of engraving, people at that time made original pens. In this era, brushes made of animal fibers appeared and soon swept the entire circle of scholars.
According to the identification of archaeologists, the brush found in the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng and the Warring States pen excavated from Zuojiagongshan are the earliest pens found in China. At that time, the names of pens were completely different from country to country. For example, the Wu people, the Yan people, and the Chu people call the brush irregular, Fu and Xing respectively, and only the Qin people call the pen like us. When it comes to stories related to pens, the most talked about is the story of Dong Hu's straight pen, as a historian, Dong Hu holds a pen and prefers to die without tampering with the virtue of history, which is still admired by the world.
Ink first originated in prehistoric times, when people liked to use ink to decorate their own faience pottery. In the Xia, Shang and Zhou periods and the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, ink was used as a pigment in writing, and can usually be mined in minerals, such as in the beauty section, the production of daimo is inseparable from the mining of minerals. Of course, in addition to being used to make stationery, the ink of the Spring and Autumn Warring States period can also be used to make face for prisoners, and craftsmen can also use ink to do carpentry, such as Mozi, the representative of the Mojia School, who is a craftsman.
The earliest origin of paper is unknown, but its evolution is quite long. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the method of writing with oracle bones and bronze as writing materials in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties was changed, and people in the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period began to use bamboo jian and silk to write characters, in addition to the stone drum script and other writing materials such as stone. Regarding the story of paper, we are most familiar with paper talk.
According to legend, Zhao Kuo especially liked to read the art of war and even defeat his father in the commentary. However, Lin Xiangru's evaluation of him is that Zhao Kuo can only read the books left by his father, but does not know how to work around, and this comment is exactly the flag erected for Zhao Kuo's tragic life.
Finally, let's talk about Yan. Yaner, Kenye, as the name suggests, is a kind of stone grinding stationery, and the ancients often used it to grind ink. Archaeologists have verified that one of the stone stones that once appeared in the site of Jiangzhai in Lintong County, Shaanxi Province, China, is a powerful physical evidence that China has used Yantai for more than 5,000 years. People in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, due to the developed lacquerware process, will also use lacquerware to make a brick platform, which is gorgeous and chic.
As a symbol of the Chinese literati, through their different spirits and wind bones, pen, ink and paper portray the open and confused, selfish and tolerant multi-faceted character of the people in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and it is precisely because of them that we can see the unique wind and bone of the Eastern Zhou Scholars, who are active in books.