Yu Tianying, the elegant manager of Daiyuexuan, a renowned writing brush store located in Liulichang Culture Street in Beijing, is on a mission. In a world which has come to be dominated by computer fonts and rapid-fire social networks, she is attempting to revive the classical Chinese arts of calligraphy and penmanship. "The beautiful handwritten characters certainly possess a spiritual glamour that computer fonts lack," she said, as she called for greater social awareness of the arts, especially with regard to cultural inheritance.

Yu, who has spent 20 years selling writing implements, emphasized the very essence of Chinese calligraphy could be handed down through the writing brushes themselves and the individual character each one possesses and allows to be expressed. "Over time, we have seen computer typing gradually replace handwriting," said Yu. "However, you just have to look at stores' display boards to see and feel that the visual effect of hand-written characters is far superior to that of specified fonts." She added that only hand-written words could convey genuine vigor and vitality, commenting ruefully that the truths encapsulated in traditional Chinese sayings, such as "the style of the [written]character shows the man", or "seeing the words is just like seeing the person" have almost been rendered obsolete today.

Daiyuexuan store was created by a brush pen maker named Dai Bin (pen-name Yue Xuan) and was set up in 1916 in Beijing. Dai is a proficient craftsman of brush making, and he was originally from Zhejiang Province. Daiyuexuan was once the supplier of writing brushes for Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Peng Zhen and many other party and state leaders after the new China was founded. The ink brushes produced in Daiyuexuan in various categories could meet all the needs of calligraphers and painters and are greatly favored by men of literature around the world.

As a China Time Honored Brand, Daiyuexuan has spent years cultivating and promoting intangible cultural inheritance and its combination of store and studio is an innovative model which facilitates contact between the customer and the craftsman. Visitors can observe first-hand the meticulous craftsmanship and complex procedures which go into the making of writing brushes. "The writing brushes produced in Daiyuexuan are all carved with different names based on different materials, usages and significance," Yu said, as she indicated one craftsman who was delicately engraving a brush's shaft. She added that the Daiyuexuan brand of writing brush has been listed among Beijing Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Yu is a passionate advocate for Chinese calligraphy, which she views as a spiritual practice for the way it unites body and mind. "Calligraphy could be treated as a kind of exercise for deep concentration to achieve a peaceful mind," she said. "If one could not attain spiritual integration during the production process [of the brushes] then any subsequent artwork being produced by the brushes is doomed to be a failure." Yu encourages her employees to calligraphy and penmanship and some have become influential calligraphers. Yu also stated the importance of continuous learning, as a seller should be familiar with various styles, scripts and schools of Chinese calligraphy. In keeping with her belief in passing on tradition, Yu is keenly engaged in promoting calligraphy among children and she designs special products for them.

She fondly recalled a child customer who asked her what a pen should be like. Illustrating her belief in the concept of unity, she explained to the child: "See how the Chinese character bi (pen) is formed, the upper part is zhu (bamboo) and the lower part is mao (hair), they are the raw materials you need to make a writing brush." Thanks to such youthful enthusiasm and Yu's passionate teaching, it seems that the art of calligraphy is, and will remain, in very good hands.

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