If you want to learn to write Chinese, you need to prepare a fountain pen, ink and paper at first. Let’s begin by discussing how to practice and then talk about how to form Chinese characters that are pleasing to the eye.

Use a fountain pen with a round tip. The special pens for calligraphy that are available in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere usually have flat tips and are therefore not suitable for writing Chinese characters. The best pens are the ones whose shaft covers nearly the entire tip, giving it firm support. This is the kind of fountain pen most common in China, and you should be able to find one in a good stationery store in your neighborhood as well.

Chinese carbon ink is the ideal choice if you can find it. The ink is a deeper black than most inks used outside China, in keeping with the Chinese calligraphic tradition of “black Chinese characters on white paper.” The high contrast makes it easy to spot errors. Also, it is almost waterproof after it dries. If you cannot find carbon ink, use any black ink.

The paper should be crosshatched or marked off in squares, with each square big enough to contain a whole character. Squares make it easier for the beginner to produce characters of uniform size. The paper should be glossy enough that the ink dries with sharp edges and does not run. Never put the paper directly on a hard table when writing-satisfactory strokes are extremely difficult to produce. Instead, put several pieces of paper under the paper you are writing on.

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