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The movement of the brush (mainly the brush hair) is a series of actions completed in time, so to grasp the movement form of the brush hair, we must take into account the two dimensions of space and time.

In the dimension of time, the movement of the brush tip can be slow or fast. During the writing process, the brush does not move at a constant speed, but shows a slow or fast rhythm. The sense of rhythm often varies between different fonts of regular, cursive, official and seal scripts, between different calligraphers, between different works of the same calligrapher, and between different parts of the same work by the same calligrapher. The dots and strokes in calligraphy works are the "trajectory" of the movement of the brush tip. The static form of pen and ink contains dynamic "momentum". This perceived momentum is closely related to the movement state of the brush tip during creation. We can even roughly trace the creation process through the form of dots and strokes.

Seeing the invisible flow of time in the tangible spatial form is like seeing the "sudden rise of wind" from the wrinkled "waves of spring water". No other plastic arts is as temporal as calligraphy. As Jiang Kui said in "Continuation of the Book of Calligraphy": "I have seen famous ancient calligraphy works, and all of them have vibrating strokes, as if I can see the moment when they were written."

Sun Guoting's "Book of Calligraphy" says: "There are those who do not realize lingering, and instead pursue vigor and speed. They cannot write quickly, and instead appear slow and heavy. Vigor and speed are the opportunity for transcendence. Lingering is the result of appreciation and understanding. To reverse the speed is the way to achieve the beauty of understanding. To indulge in lingering is to eventually achieve the ultimate beauty. To be able to write quickly but not to is called lingering. To be slow because of being slow is not the reason for appreciation and understanding. It is difficult to master both without a calm mind and nimble hands."

It is very important to grasp the writing rhythm. If it is too fast, the strokes will be floating and slippery, and if it is too slow, the strokes will be stagnant. The ancients commented on books as "calm and happy". This state is very rare. It is difficult to be happy when calm, and it is difficult to be calm when happy. To achieve the state of "calm and happy", it is not only necessary to freely grasp the mutual transformation between slow and fast, but also to be able to flow smoothly in slow places and calm in fast places, so-called "staying in places where you move, and moving in places where you stay" (Bao Shichen's "Yizhou Shuangji").

In the spatial dimension, there are four basic forms of pen tip movement: linear motion, lifting and pressing, tilting, and twisting.

The movement of the brush tip in a direction parallel to the plane of the paper is called translation. Translation can be roughly divided into straight movement (drawing a straight line in a direction parallel to the plane of the paper) and rotation (drawing a curve in a direction parallel to the plane of the paper). There are many theories of ancient calligraphy that talk about "shi zhuan". For example, Sun Guoting's "Book of Calligraphy" says "Shi refers to vertical and horizontal pulling and pulling. Zhuan refers to hooks, loops and windings". "Shi zhuan" causes the brush to move straight and rotate in translation.

The tip of the brush is raised and lowered in the direction relative to the plane of the paper, which is called lifting and pressing. When writing a dot or stroke, the brush naturally needs to be pressed down at the beginning and lifted up at the end. However, lifting and pressing does not only occur at the beginning and end of the dot or stroke. The tip of the brush may also rise and fall during the writing process. The tremor in Huang Tingjian's running and cursive scripts is actually composed of subtle horizontal movement and lifting and pressing during the writing process.

There are two basic types of brushstrokes: horizontal movement and lifting and pressing. Without horizontal movement and lifting and pressing, calligraphy works cannot be created. For many dot-stroke forms in ancient calligraphy, it is difficult to grasp their essentials if we cannot carefully study the horizontal movement and lifting and pressing movements of calligraphers.

For example, the character "丧" in "丧乱帖" is written with full and round strokes. If you break this character into several strokes to copy, and leave the paper after each stroke, and then write the next stroke, it will be difficult to copy it. In fact, the brush tip almost never leaves the paper after the stroke is started, but the traces of the brush tip pulling back and forth on the paper are covered by the next stroke.

Calligraphers often complete a more complicated process of moving the brush horizontally and combining lifting and pressing on the paper, and some of the brush marks are covered by other parts, so some brush marks are hidden and some are prominent. It can be said that they are "repairing the plank road in the open and crossing Chencang in secret."

In order to pursue the richness of dot-stroke forms, calligraphers can also rotate the pen tube and the brush tip around the center of the tube. This kind of pen tip movement is called twisting. Calligraphers often twist the pen tube with their fingers to achieve twisting, and sometimes they may also rotate their wrists. Twisting is different from rotation in translation because they revolve around different axes. Rotation is similar to the revolution of the earth, while twisting is similar to the rotation of the earth.

The twisting technique can be used not only in the process of dotting and strokes, but also in the transition stage between dots and strokes. This way of writing allows multiple surfaces of the brush to rub against the paper in a short period of time, thus producing a rich dotting effect. Twisting is an important means of expression, but if the calligrapher is obsessed with it, he will be misled.

When a calligrapher holds the brush and moves, the brush tube and the brush hair do not keep in one direction from beginning to end. You can certainly spend some effort to keep the brush and the paper at an angle (for example, vertical), but this is definitely a clumsy way. The real situation is that the calligrapher can change the angle of the brush with the paper plane. Doing so can bring about a change between the straight edge and the side edge, and can bring about a change between following the trend and going against the trend. We call the movement of the brush (mainly the brush hair) either upright or tilted "tilting".

We draw a plane perpendicular to the paper along the trajectory of the dots and strokes. If the direction in which the pen tube and the pen tip that has not touched the paper stand up are roughly within this plane, then this kind of writing can be called straight-tip writing. If the pen tip deviates from this plane and falls down, it can be called off-tip writing.

Jiang Kui said in "Continuation of Book of Calligraphy": "When the pen is upright, the tip is hidden; when the pen is tilted, the tip is exposed. Up and down, dark and bright, the magic emerges." If you want to keep the pen upright, you don't need to keep the pen tube perpendicular to the paper. The key is to keep the pen tube and the part of the pen that is not touching the paper roughly in such a plane. In fact, whether it is the center tip, side tip, upright tip, or slanted tip, there can be changes in the trend and against the trend, and this is also caused by the tilt of the pen tip.

The inclination of the brush tube and the brush hairs brings about changes between counter-trend and following the trend. When the direction of the upright brush tube and the brush hairs is relatively biased towards the direction of the strokes, we call it following the trend; when the direction of the upright brush tube and the brush hairs is relatively biased towards the opposite direction of the strokes, we call it counter-trend.

Writing with the trend is lighter, while writing against the trend can increase the friction between the brush tip and paper and make the strokes appear thicker and more powerful.

Ancient calligraphy theories often emphasize the reverse trend. Bao Shichen said in Yizhou Shuangji: "When a stone carver carves characters, if he draws from the right, his pen must point to the left. By analogy, the paper is like stone, the pen is like a drill, and the finger is like a hammer. ... Once the tip of the pen touches the paper, it should be reversed. When drawing downward, the pen turns upward. When drawing upward, the pen turns downward. When drawing from the left, the pen turns to the right. This is how the finger gains momentum and the tip of the pen gains power."

Writing against the trend can often bring calmness. For example, Wang Duo's calligraphy is majestic and vigorous, which is related to his good use of the trend. However, "against" is just a kind of "trend". If it is operated mechanically, it will lose momentum. Liu Xizai said it well in "Art Outline·Calligraphy Outline": "If you want the tip of the brush to reach everywhere, you must use the word "against". If you push, the tip is right and the tube is left. If you push, the tip is down and the tube is up. All of them are correct. However, it is only a secret mechanism. If it is attached to the appearance, it will be wrong."

The horizontal movement, lifting, pressing, twisting, tilting, and the speed of the brush during operation constitute the entire content of its movement. Calligraphers have different choices in the many ways of using the brush. Some calligraphers use twisting more to make the strokes look rich, while some calligraphers rarely use twisting to make the strokes look simple. For the same way of using the brush, there are differences between calligraphers and between different works of calligraphers. The extent of lifting and pressing used by Ouyang Xun is obviously different from that of Chu Suiliang, and the speed of the strokes in Huaisu's "Self-narration" and "Thousand Character Essay in Cursive Script" is also obviously different.

"Within a single stroke, changes occur at the peaks and crests; within a single dot, there are subtle differences at the tip." (Sun Guoting's "Book of Calligraphy") The dynamic use of the brush creates static dot and stroke forms, which constitute the basic form of calligraphy art.

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