Traditional Japanese calligraphy ink, referred to as sumi ink, comes in a solid form. It takes at least four years of production before these ink sticks can be sold, and even longer for the most ...

Calligraphy inkstones, especially elaborately designed ones, can cost over $5,000. While the traditional practice of using an ink stick and inkstone is less common now that liquid ink exists, the ...

The body of the brush can be made from either bamboo, or rarer materials such as red sandalwood, glass, ivory, silver, and gold. The head of the brush can be made from the hair (or feathers) of a wide ...

Syngman Rhee, the authoritarian president of South Korea throughout the 1950s, received his advanced degrees at Harvard and Princeton. But, in his youth (Rhee was born in 1875), he had a traditional ...

Called maobi in Chinese, this means a pen made of hair. The oldest brush discovered so far dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). Brushes are generally made from animal hair, such as ...