Goat hair brushes were said to origin from the Northern and Southern Dynasties and were made out of a goat's tail or chin hair. Goat hair brushes were not properly used until the Southern Song Dynasty, and were not popularised until the Qing Dynasty. This is because ancient calligraphers preferred a strong and powerful stroke, while brushes made out of goat hair were too soft to achieve this. It wasn't until the Qing Dynasty where people valued more rounded and subtle styles did the goat hair brush come into wide use.]]>
It was said that these brushes were actually made out of wolf hair (狼毛) in the past, instead of weasel hair (黃鼠狼毛).]]>
The inventor of liquid ink, Taguchi Seiji, was a teacher from Japan, and in order to motivate young children to practice calligraphy, he invented liquid ink in order to make writing easier and more convenient.]]>
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Before pine soot ink was widely used, ink was usually made out of natural compositions like graphite (石墨). However, producing pine soot inks requires chopping down thicker and stronger pine trees, creating damage for the natural environment]]>
Duan inkstones are extremely solid, smooth and fine, and is said to be the most valuable type of inkstones. The ink that is grinded from Duan inkstones are usually of high quality, is easy to write with and long-lasting.

During the Song Dynasty, the emperor commanded that the government officials from Guangdong are not to bring the Duan stone into the capital without prior authorisation, showing how valuable the stone is.]]>