10/10/2026
有人看到照片裡這支筆，先笑了——雞毛也能做筆？🤣
哈哈，還真的能。雞毛筆取的是公雞頸部或胸前的細絨毛，性極軟，軟到幾乎沒有「腰力」。用它寫字，墨是從筆肚慢慢滲出來的，筆鋒一碰到紙，毛就順著紙面鋪開，壓下去的那一瞬間，纖維的走向看得清清楚楚，像一團吸飽墨的棉絮攤在紙上。
也因為它軟，才畫得出別的工具做不到的東西。用來寫狂草、大草，線條會有一種蒼茫的質感，行內人形容像「蟲蝕木」——邊緣不規則，中間卻有筋骨。用來作畫也一樣，畫出來的皴染乾濕自然，秀潤明快。
但它也是真的難伺候😞。新筆一開始根本不吸墨，墨水進不了筆芯，筆鋒一碰紙，外層的墨就整片淋下去，一兩筆之後筆頭就乾得像棉花，澀得行不動。且雞毛本身脆，掉毛是常態，用一段時間筆鋒就禿了。
所以它也不算「好用」的筆，是「玩味」的筆，留給想試點不一樣東西的人。😚
#友生昌 #雞毛筆 #文房四寶 #冷知識
Someone saw this brush in the photo and burst out laughing — a chicken feather brush? 🤣
Haha, it really exists. Chicken feather brushes are made from the fine down on a rooster’s neck or breast. They are extremely soft — so soft they have almost no “backbone.” When you write with one, the ink seeps slowly from the belly of the brush. The moment the tip touches the paper, the hairs spread along the surface; as you press down, the direction of every fibre is visible, like a tuft of cotton soaked in ink laid flat on the paper.
And it is precisely because it is so soft that it can create what other tools cannot. For wild cursive and large cursive, the lines take on a vast, weathered quality — practitioners describe it as “worm-eaten wood”: irregular edges, yet with sinew at the core. The same goes for painting; the dry and wet textures come naturally, refined and bright.
But it is also genuinely hard to handle 😞. A new brush does not absorb ink at all at first — ink cannot reach the core, and the moment the tip touches paper, the outer layer of ink pours off in a sheet. After a stroke or two, the head is dry as cotton, so rough it will not move. And chicken feathers are brittle; shedding is normal, and after some use the tip goes bald.
So it is not exactly an “easy-to-use” brush — it is a brush for play, for those who want to try something a little different. 😚
