What wool is Xuanbi made of?

Generally, three kinds of hair are used to make Xuan pen. The first one is made of wool, called wool pen, the second one is made of weasel tail hair, called wolf brush, and the third one is made of rabbit hair, called purple brush. The first process of making a magic pen is to buy the hair needed to make the pen.

Rabbit hair used to make magic pens is basically rabbit hair in the mountains. When the weather turned cold, rabbits in the mountains began to grow long hair in late autumn to prepare for the cold winter, so she started to buy rabbit skins in Zheng Jun at this time. There is a unique rabbit in Jingxian county. The rabbit's hair is not only long enough, but also comfortable to touch, which is completely suitable for the mysterious pen. This rabbit hair is very powerful when writing, and the words written are neat and rigid.

Xu Anbi was born in Jingxian County, Xuancheng City, Anhui Province (originally belonging to Ningguofu, paper was produced by the government in the name of governing Xuancheng, so it was called Xu Anbi), and he is one of the four famous pens in China. According to Han Yu's Biography of Mao Ying, in 2023 BC, Meng Tian, a general of the Qin Dynasty, passed through Zhongshan (a mountainous area in Jingxian County, Anhui Province) when he went south. He found that the rabbit was fat and long, so he took bamboo as the tube and made an improved brush on the basis of the original bamboo pen. It was popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties and had a pen name. After the Yuan Dynasty, tiger skin prevailed and mysterious skin declined. After the reform and opening up, Xu Anbi gradually recovered its vitality.

In 2008, Xu Anbi's production skills were listed in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List.