Brushing up a legacy

After a seven-year apprenticeship, Qiu was able to polish goat-wool brushes of all grades. In the 1980s, he started taking apprentices. However, as the work is hard and salary low, half of his apprentices quit. Even if his apprentices did the job until retirement, they did not take any apprentice themselves, he says.

At its peak time in the 1960s and '70s, the factory saw 500 to 600 artisans producing 1.2 million writing brushes a year, most of which were exported to Japan, but now there are only 50 to 60 artisans, says 63-year-old Ma Zhiliang, head of the factory.

Now, few young people are willing to do the work, Qiu says, which is the major challenge they face about how to pass on this precious craft.

Yet, he sees hope in his apprentice, 30-year-old Yang Wen.

In September 2018, after graduating from university, Yang, who's from Gansu province, visited Shanlian, the hometown of his girlfriend, Yao Yulin. The trip kindled the young man's interest in the craft.

Besides, Yao Yulin's family owns a brush-making workshop, and her mother and grandmother are both artisans. At the suggestion of her father, the young couple decided to continue the family's brush-making business.

Later that year, after a traditional ceremony, Yang became Qiu's 11th apprentice.

"Now, the craftsmanship of Huzhou writing brushes has peaked. If we don't pass on our skills to the coming generations, the craft will not improve but only decline," Qiu says.

In addition to taking apprentices, Wang Xiaohua says that they want to get the interest of more young people through livestreams and by holding events at schools.

In terms of innovating on writing brushes, she says they are trying to mix different materials to meet different writers' needs.

Besides, the factory has become a tourist attraction for people to learn how to make a brush by visiting the workshops and polishing brushes themselves. "Sometimes, we receive as many as 150 people at a time," Wang Xiaohua says.