The brush pen, one of the “Four Treasures of the Study”, was invented thousands of years ago. However, the oldest pen ever known was just a stick or a piece of bamboo. It was difficult for people to write well on thin silk using such a pen.

It is said that Meng Tian, a general of the Kingdom of Qin, improved the pen. When Meng was leading an army to fight against the Kingdom of Chu, he had to report the situation to his king in time. But his pen was too difficult to use and it caused him much trouble. He began to think of ways to improve it.

One day after hunting, Meng made his way home with some wild rabbits on the horseback. Fat and heavy, one rabbit’s tail left a long trail(痕迹) on the ground. When Meng saw this, suddenly a good idea came to his mind. “If I tie the rabbit’s hair to a stick, would it be easy to write with?”

On arriving home, he tied the rabbit’s hair to a stick and tried writing with it. But the rabbit’s hair was too smooth to write well and wasted a lot of silk. Meng was so disappointed that he threw his “invention” into a stone hole in the yard.

However, Meng never gave up and kept trying all the time. A few rainy days later, he happened to find his “invention” fatter in the stone hole. He picked it up with hope. The brush worked beautifully on silk. It turned out that the special water had cleaned the oil from the hair. Meng succeeded at last.

Thanks to Meng, the brush pen is playing a key role in Chinese culture. Today, students are taught to use brush pens in school. It makes their life more colorful and helps them better understand Chinese culture.

An old man was sitting on the top of a hill. He was looking down at the town down the hill.

Just then, a traveler came.

“Excuse me, sir,” the traveler said. “I’m going to the town down the hill. Do you know it?”

“Yes,” said the old man.

“Well,” said the traveler, “What are the people like in that town?”

The old man said, “What were the people like in the towns you visited?”

“Many of them were rude. I didn’t like them and they didn’t like me, either,” said the traveler.

The old man said, “The people in that town are terrible, too. You won’t like them.”

The traveler walked away without going to the town.

About an hour later, another traveler arrived. He asked the old man the same questions. The old man also asked the same question that he asked the first traveler.

“They were nice people. I loved them and they liked me, too,” said the second traveler.

The old man said, “The people in the town are nice, too. You will like them.”

“Oh, thank you!” said the second traveler. And he walked happily down the hill.

Chinese paper cutting is an art of cutting out pictures from paper with the help of a pair of scissors or a knife. In 2009, the Chinese paper cutting was added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Paper cutting originated (起源) in China, which has been around for over 1,500 years. But long before that, when paper wasn’t invented, Chinese people already used similar skills to make cutouts on leaves, leather and silk. It reached the top during the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912). From the common people to royal families (王室), paper cuttings could be seen everywhere.

In our daily life, the subjects of the paper cuttings can be anything, from historical events and fairy tale characters to plants and animals. The paper cuttings are so vivid that they look like real ones. In celebration of the Spring Festival, people usually make cutouts of the Chinese character “Fu” and put them on windows, walls and doors for good luck. Chinese character “Xi” is cut for the wedding ceremony.       

Paper cutting may sound easy, but actually it’s much difficult to do well. “You can’t forget aesthetics (美学) when making Chinese paper cuttings. This art was invented for decoration from the very beginning,” said Fang Jianguo, who has made paper cuttings for over 30 years. “Before doing it, you have to learn how to draw well. Without good drawing skills, you can’t make good paper cuttings.”

Paper cutting tradition also has new development. Li Baofeng is a 54-year-old folk artist. “Traditional paper cuttings are often made with red paper, which seems to be a little boring. So I want to make something new,” says Li. “Scissors are still scissors. Techniques are improved based on traditional techniques.” She has made works in different colors which have amazing 3D effects.

Now more and more people love paper cutting works and buy them as gifts for their friends.