Hard BrushThe bristles of the pen are relatively elastic, and there are many common types, such as rabbit hair, wolf hair, deer hair, mouse whiskers, stone badger hair, mountain horse hair, and pig bristle.

1. Rabbit-hair brush: Rabbit-hair brushes have a long history. Brushes made from rabbit hair were used in the Warring States period, which were unearthed in Changsha. They are made by splitting the brush handle into several pieces, inserting the brush head, and then tightly tying it with silk thread. Rabbit hair is also divided into two types: purple-haired and flowery white. Purple-haired is made from the hair on the back of the rabbit (also known as the arrow hair) and the tail, which is soft and strong. Flowery white is relatively straight and sharp, not as soft as the purple-haired.

2. The term 'wolf' in reference to the 'wolf brush' does not refer to the wolf in the zoo, but to the weasel. Brushes made from the fur and tails of weasels have slightly softer elasticity than rabbit hair brushes, but are harder than sheep hair brushes. However, the quality is quite brittle and not durable against friction.

3. Mouse-hair pen: Mouse-hair pens are made from the whiskers of mice, which makes them very firm. It is said that during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi used a mouse-hair pen to write the "Lanting Xu". Other hard-bristle pens, such as mountain horse hair, stone badger hair, and pig bristle pens, have particularly hard writing properties, which are generally not suitable for beginners who have not yet mastered the rules of pen control.

Soft-bristle penThe elasticity of this pen is relatively small and it is quite soft. It is usually made from soft bristles such as sheep-hair, chicken-hair, and pig-hair.

1. Goat-hair brush: A goat-hair brush is made from goat hair, which is softer than a purple-haired brush. Due to the fineness and length of the goat hair, it is suitable for writing large calligraphy and large-scale characters.

2. Chicken quill pen: Chicken quill pens are made from the feathers from the chest of a rooster. Their performance is softer than sheep-hair pens.

3. Baby Hair Pen: Baby hair is the hair of newborn babies, which is extremely soft. Xiao Ziyun of the Southern Dynasties (487-549) used a baby hair pen, showing its long history.

combined brush pen"Jianhao" is a term that literally means "to have both". It refers to a type of brush that has a hard core surrounded by soft bristles, with a pen that is intermediate in nature between a hard and soft brush. Generally, these brushes are made by mixing purple hare and sheep's hair in different proportions. Examples include "three purples and seven sheep", "seven purples and three sheep", and "five purples and five sheep". There are also brushes made by combining sheep's hair with wolf's hair, which are divided into sizes such as "Xiaobaiyun", "Zhongbaiyun", and "Dabaiyun". In addition, there are also large sheep's hair brushes that are joined with pig bristle to enhance their elasticity.