Art of making brushes at risk

Youngsters unwilling to learn ancient skills needed to produce the traditional pens used in calligraphy

In the workshop of the Wangyipin Brush Pen Store in Huzhou, 29-year-old Shi Wangli brushes goat fur in water with an ox horn comb to select appropriate strands to make a traditional Chinese brush pen.

Her hands are immersed in water for at least eight hours a day, in both summer and winter. The selection of the hairs is one of the most important steps of making a quality brush pen and the work she does cannot be performed by a machine.