Huzhou ink brush or Hubi (; "Hú" stands for Huzhou, "BÃÂ" meaning "ink brush") is a kind of Chinese ink brush.
The ink brushes are produced in Huzhou () of Zhejiang Province, China. Historically, the workshops of ink brushes were congregated in Wuxin (Traditional Chinese: å³èÂÂ; Simplified Chinese: å´場; Pinyin: Wú Xìng), currently Wuxing District of Huzhou. So it's also named Wuxing Hubi (Traditional Chinese: å³èÂÂæ¹ÂçÂÂ; Simplified Chinese: å´場æ¹Âç¬Â; Pinyin: Wúxìng HúbÃÂ).
Huzhou has a long history of manufacturing ink brushes, and it can be traced back to Qin dynasty. Huzhou's ink brush production and manufacture gained prominence in the Ming dynasty (13th century). Now Huzhou is known as the "Hometown of Ink Brush".
Huzhou also holds annual "Huzhou Ink Brush Festival", and the festival also has some memorial activities dedicated to Meng Tian - the inventor of ink brush pen.
There are several famous craftsmen in history from Huzhou, the early big five were:
The most famous brush pen workshop in Huzhou could be the Shanlian (Traditional Chinese: Ã¥ÂÂçÂÂ; Simplified Chinese: Ã¥ÂÂçÂÂ; Pinyin: Shàn LiÃÂn), and its brush pens are named Shanlian Hubi (Traditional Chinese: Ã¥ÂÂçÂÂæ¹ÂçÂÂ; Simplified Chinese: Ã¥ÂÂçÂÂæ¹Âç¬Â; Pinyin: ShànliÃÂn HúbÃÂ).
Shanlian is also a local place name, whose ancient name was Mengxi (èÂÂ溪, literally means "the creek of Meng Tian"). Meng Tian made brush pens there.