“Does the brush paint, or does the ink? Or does the paper, the hand, the brain, the mind, the vision, or the person? Or does a painting paint?” – Kazuaki Tanahashi

There are many tools that calligraphers use (penholders, brush pots, ink boxes, desk mats, paperweights, seals and seal boxes, raw materials, etc). However, four of them are essential to this art, not only because of their necessity, but also due to their symbolic meaning. They are called “four treasures of the study”.

The most important of them all is the brush. It is an extension of the calligrapher’s body and soul. It is said that sho/character is written with the heart and not with a brush, and that the brush becomes the very soul of the artist. Consequently, one does not write by controlling his brush, but rather by steadying one’s inner self. The brush is considered to be a living entity, and it is deeply respected in the Far East.