Wrap Twisting Method

Wrap-twisting method is among the many calligraphy techniques,whose main role is to tighten the brush hair by twisting the pen tube, with a view to making the Chinese brush resilient to the touch from its four virtues("pointed tip, uniform hair, perfect roundness, resilient to the touch")and the strokes stronger and more flexible. Calligraphers prior to the Qing Dynasty, such as Mi Fu, Huang Tingjian, Zhangxu, Huaisu, etc.,unconsciously made use of wrap-twisting so as to re-gather the brush hair to continue writing. In the Qing Dynasty, epigraphy was on the rise, and it was a trend for Qing scholars to write with a pen made of goat hair. In order to overcome softness of such pens, they began to make use of the technique of wrap-twisting, but its relevant theories were lagging behind its practice. The wrap-twisting theory began to emerge in the Tang Dynasty, made progress in Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties and found its establishment in the Qing Dynasty. Modern calligraphers, to some extent, have been holding suspicion, misunderstanding, prejudice or controversy towards wrap-twisting method, but the practice of such theory proves its good artistry.