Bu Zhen'e, 62, works on brush tips in a studio in Shanlian Township of Huzhou, Zhejiang Province

In 1856, Lady Yehenara was confronted with the question of what to give Qing Emperor Xianfeng for his 25th birthday. So, the learned and ambitious concubine, who would later be known as Empress Dowager Cixi, ordered the creation of a top-quality writing brush.

Emperor Xianfeng, an enthusiast of calligraphic arts, received piles of birthday gifts. But the special present from Lady Yehenara grabbed his attention most.

It turned out that the elegant writing brush, inscribed with the auspicious words "soaring dragon, dancing phoenix", boosted the intimacy between the concubine and the emperor.

The satisfied concubine then awarded a plaque to the brush's creator He Lianqing for his excellent craftsmanship.

This very writing brush remains a Grade-2 cultural relic under State protection in the Palace Museum, according to Zu E, a researcher of traditional Chinese art with the museum.

He Lianqing crafted about half of the more than 200 writing brushes in the museum's depository , Zu says.

He was a native of Shanlian Township, in Huzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, which is about 160 kilometers west of Shanghai. In the 1820s, He ran the largest writing brush workshop in Beijing.

This month, top-quality Helianqing writing brushes, named after the genre's creator but modified in design and packaging, attracted much attention at the 2007 Luxuries Global Carnival, which ran at the New National Agriculture Exhibition Center in Beijing from July 5 to 8.

Sponsored by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and organized by China Luxuries magazine, the expo featured luxury items such as yachts, sports cars, watches and jewelry.

The Helianqing writing brushes, priced from 30,000 yuan to 60,000 yuan ($3,950-7,890) apiece, "are stand-alone exhibits featuring a strong flavor of traditional Chinese culture", says Lin Zhenyu, who rallied some of the country's top craftsmen, artists, designers and cultural heritage experts to inject new life into the writing brushes.

On current markets, the most expensive writing brushes are sold for no more than 20,000 yuan ($2,630) apiece, Lin says.

In the 1950s, He Lianqing's descendants were frequently commissioned by master painter Li Kuchan, renowned calligrapher Qi Gong - also a scholar of Chinese classics - and Qi Baishi and Huang Binhong, two of the most influential traditional Chinese painters of the last century.

But in 1956, most private writing brush studios, including the Beijing branch of the Helianqing Writing Brush Studio at today's East Liulichang Antique Street, were merged into the State-owned Beijing Writing Brush Factory.

Likewise, Shanlian studios, among others, were absorbed by State-run factories, "where the traditional working procedure was simplified, and technological requirements were compromised", recalls Yu Peifang, 76. Yu is the fourth-generation inheritor of the Helianqing writing-brush tradition.

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