Holding a brush

Right sitting position ensures a straight writing. Sit comfortably with back straightened and feet apart in shoulder breadth. Firmly pinch brush shaft by thumb, index finger and middle finger, with ring finger and little finger reinforcing the hold from behind. Keep wrist and elbow suspended, and forearm parallel to the surface of a desk. Write with manipulating the wrist and the strength of the body. It may need some years practice to be able to write in steady strokes.

Turning brush shaft contributes varied shapes of strokes. Prior to Qin dynasty the shaft was 1/8 inch in diameter, which can be twisted three turns. The shaft in Han dynasty was 1/4 inch in diameter, which can be twisted two turns. The thickness increased to 3/8 inch in Tang dynasty with one turn possible. When the shaft was thickened to 5/8 inch in Song dynasty, the ancient manipulation was lost.

Hold a brush at about two inches from its tip for characters of moderate size. The dimension of Chinese paper is about 10 inches in Jin dynasty and 11 inches in Tang dynasty. The ancient Chinese wrote in reasonable character sizes according to their papers. When the making of rice paper advanced to large dimensions in Ming dynasty, the sizes we have today, Chinese calligraphy began to skid.