What are the traditional Chinese “Four Treasures of the Study”?

The traditional Chinese “Four Treasures of the Study” are brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.

These four materials are the essential equipment of the traditional Chinese scholar’s studio. The brush carries the ink, paper receives writing or painting, and the inkstone is used to grind solid ink with water into a workable liquid. Together they support both calligraphy and ink painting.

The phrase became established as a cultural designation for scholarly tools, not merely as a shopping list. Fine examples could be prized objects made from carefully selected animal hair, bamboo, stone, or decorated materials. Inkstones in particular were collected for their stone quality, shape, and carving.

The set is sometimes confused with China’s broader “Four Arts” of the scholar: qin, qi, shu, and hua, meaning zither, strategy game, calligraphy, and painting. The Four Treasures are physical implements, while the Four Arts are cultivated accomplishments.