Bear hair calligraphy brushes from Aliexpress

While looking for cheap brushes on Aliexpress, I also found several bear hair brushes and thought I would give them a try. (Note: I got these brushes from this store on Aliexpress called Sunway international trade co., LTD [affiliate link] and you can probably find the same or similar brushes by searching around the store. For convenience sake, I added affiliate links to the exact ones that I bought.)

 

1. This extra large and thick brush (carved with the name 如意熊毫 and a poem by 李白) was going for around 2,000 yen on Aliexpress [affiliate link] (it is the one listed as "bear" and "L"). It comes with a hair length of 110mm, a hair diameter of 35mm, and a shaft length of 275mm. The hair feels really flexible but has that inner strength too.

The 500 yen coin (with a diameter of 26.5mm) is there for a sense of size. Its size makes it suitable for large calligraphy works, usually single characters on a large sheet of paper.

 

2. I also found this extra large brush (from 轩义堂 and carved with the words 墨客警風) going for around 1,500 yen on Aliexpress [affiliate link]. It comes with a hair length of 120mm, a hair diameter of 20mm, and a shaft length of 305mm.

Again, the 500 yen coin is there for a sense of size.

 

 

Its size makes it suitable for large calligraphy works, such as up to 5 characters on a 半切 size (34.5x136cm) of paper.

3. Next is this set of three brushes (carved with 水墨丹青) going for less than 1,500 yen on Aliexpress [affiliate link]. It comes with one large 大 (hair length 60mm, hair diameter 15mm), one medium 中 (hair length 55mm, hair diameter 14mm), and one small 小 brush (hair length 47mm, hair diameter 13mm). I have placed a 500 yen coin there for a sense of size.

All of them have the same shaft length of 240mm.

Their sizes make them suitable for writing 4 to 5 characters on small sheets 半紙 size (24.3x33.4cm) or for around 30 characters on a 半切 size (34.5x136cm) of paper, although I don't think I will be writing so many characters on such a large piece of paper.

4. Finally, there was this set of three brushes (湖笔 and carved with the words 熊毫長峰書畫) with longer hair than usual, which was going for around 2,100 yen on Aliexpress [affiliate link]. It comes with one large "A" (hair length 95mm, hair diameter 14mm), one medium "B" (hair length 90mm, hair diameter 12mm), and one small "C" brush (hair length 85mm, hair diameter 11mm).

As usual, the 500 yen coin is there for a sense of size. The shaft lengths are 315mm, 305mm, and 300mm respectively for the large, medium, and small brushes.

With longer hair than usual, they suitable for writing up to 4 to 5 characters on small sheets 半紙 size (24.3x33.4cm) or for around 20 characters on a 半切 size (34.5x136cm) of paper.

Now I need to find time to give each of them a try. First, though, I need to think of what to write for these tests. 

Update 18 September 2023: I tried the big brush from Set 3. It can write smoothly and was easy to use. Not bad for its price! Here's a sample of something written with this brush.

Update 19 September 2023: I tried the small brush "C" from Set 4. With its extra long hair, it was really easy to write in a more flowing and cursive style. I was really impressed with what it can write for its price.

Update 21 September 2023: I gave the extra large brush 2 (from 轩义堂 and carved with the words 墨客警風) a try, it was quite a good brush to write with. Given that it is quite big, I found that it is best for writing a single line on a big sheet of paper, like these five characters on a 半切 size (34.5x136cm) of paper.