Chronologically, the development of the Chinese writing instruments may be traced through the following major stages of technical changes:
The ancient Chinese writing instrument was a sort of foutain-pen, used on small laths of bamboo or smooth wooden tablets. A figure was found on a bronze ritual vessel depicting a right hand holding a narrow (bamboo) tube, attached to which is a reservoir holding the fluid, presumably of black varnish. The narrow bamboo tube contained probably a wick to regulate the ink flow.
Such an instrument traced lines of even thickness in any direction or its movement. This is why Great Seal and Small Seal characters are figures of even shaped lines of even thickness, and the shapes of the characters are relatively round, oval, and sinuous in appearance.
Not long after the catalogue of Li Su was edited, Cheng Mao invented a pencil of soft wood ending in a fibrous point. Such an instrument, the tip of which is dipped in the black varnish, was used for writing on silk strips.
Traced with such a course instrument on a rough (to handle) material, the rounded figures became square shaped. The curved lines were broken at right angles. But, this ungraceful writing being quicker than the "fountain-pen", the wooden pencil was adapted for public deeds, and the "official hand" became the current writing, while the Small Seal characters remained the classical writing at that time.
General Meng Tian was accredited with having invented or improved the writing brush. This invention was fatal to the characters, as the writing brush cannot trace lines against its soft hair-tip. Many characters simply could not be written, and were replaced by arbitrary and fanciful sketches. Meanwhile, the paper used for writing (in place of the silk) added more difficulty because paper is absorbent. Hence, came the thick strokes, and thin strokes, and the slabbery letters, which were all unknown to the ancients.
A writing brush, made of stiff and elastic animal, hair, flattens out as it is pressed down, twists as it is turned, projects its point as the tip is raised up from the paper surface. Hence, the swellings, the joints, the crooks, which are not intentionally made but are due to the nature of the new writing instrument. Therefore, a new writing Official Hand is born replacing the Small Seal.
The writing brush has been the writing instrument ever since, until the present day of the fountain-, ball-point-, and the felt-tipped pens. They are gradually replacing the brushes for the same reason the brushes replaced the wooden pencils. That is, modern society demands even greater speed and efficiency in communication.
But, where do we go from here? Before making any conclusions, let us just observe the attributes of the modern writing instruments: What do they have? It is of interest to note that the modern writing instruments are very much akin to the "fountain pen" of the ancient. Traces of lines from the modern ball-point and felt-tip pens are lines of even thickness, and can be moved in any direction desired. The only difference is that with the new writing instruments, one can write fast and write continuously for miles without needing refill, and without waiting for the ink to dry.
Great as the modern writing instruments are, however, even greater speed of communication is demanded by modern man, in the global sense of communications. Therefore, we sense there are going to be imminent technical changes ahead, namely: electronic writing instruments which combine the computer keyboard and voices, CRT, etc., as the input/output media are linked by sattelites. Therefore, a new mode of thinking is required. Maybe, instead of writing instruments, we should be thinking about communication instruments, and about man-machine interfacing. In other words, one should address the critical problem of encoding and decoding of Chinese characters in the environment of modern electronic and computing technologies.