Xu Anbi originated in the Qin Dynasty. In the biography of Mao Ying by Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty, it was recorded that General Meng Tian "cut Chu in the south and followed Zhongshan" and used Zhongshan rabbit hair as a brush. Among them, Zhongshan is the contemporary Xuanzhou area.

Xu Anbi's production spread to the Han Dynasty, the production technology was further improved, and the pen body was beautifully decorated. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Xu Anbi basically inherited the style of China. The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of Xu Anbi's development, Xuanzhou became the national pen-making center, and Xu Anbi presented it to the court as a tribute during the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty. The imperial court formulated the rule of "sixty taels of tribute and twenty taels of purple". Because this kind of pen is mainly distributed in Xuancheng, it was named Xu Anbi.

By the Song Dynasty, Xu Anbi's production technology was improving day by day, and famous workers came forth in large numbers, and his reputation was growing. In particular, Zhuge Shi, a famous pen-making family in Xuanzhou, created the "careless pen-writing", which was called by calligrapher Mei as "the pen-making Zhuge is the best in the world" and "the hardness is suitable for people, and the management is not bad", which has become a unique one in the history of China.

At the end of Song Dynasty and the beginning of Yuan Dynasty, due to the unstable court and frequent wars, Xu Anbi's technicians had to wander around looking for other jobs in order to make a living, which led to the loss of Xu Anbi's technical foundation.

trait

Xu Anbi is flexible and appropriate, his strokes are even and solid, his writing is fluent, and he can send and receive freely, which can not only store ink but also be fat. Long front is soft and plump, not plump, flexible in turning, able to receive and release, combining rigidity with softness: purple hair is sharp and firm without losing softness, easy to exert force and master: black hair is smooth, combining rigidity with softness, firm in brushwork: double brush is more suitable for reading and painting, combining hardness with softness.

Sharp, neat, round and healthy are also called the "four virtues" of writing brush. Sharp means that the tip of a brush should be as sharp as an awl, and its function is to facilitate the writing of strokes such as hook and stroke. Qi means that after the brush hair is scattered, the front hair is flat, which helps to spit ink evenly; Circle means that the root of the pen is cylindrical, round and full, and the hair is evenly covered. Its function is to write smoothly without bifurcation; Sword means that the front end of the pen is elastic when writing and painting, which can show the pen power.