Transforming regular stationery into one that bears historic meaning, while maintaining its user functionality in current times, is the biggest challenge. The Top Scholar Pen Set design took references from ancient Chinese imperial examination practices, scholar culture and moral values. Pen cap resembles the top hat wore by scholars in the past. Pen barrel was designed like the Cim bucket or fortune telling sticks holder. The pens, similar to fortune sticks and written with blessings in calligraphy strokes, represents luck for users to excel in performance during tests.
Guanzhong College (Guanzhong Shuyuan) is located at Shuyuanmen, the ancient cultural street in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. The name of Shuyuanmen (Shuyuan Gate) was derived from Guanzhong College. Established in the Ming dynasty in 1609 by Feng Cong Wu, a renowned philosopher, and a group of scholars, the college used to be crowned one of the top four famous academic institutions in the Ming and Qing dynasties of ancient China. In 1903, Guanzhong College changed its name to “Shaanxi Province First Normal School”, and subsequently there were several changes to its name, even though the school entrance plaque carrying the name “Guanzhong Shuyuan” in Chinese calligraphy, was never pull down and still stands today. The college now serves students from Xi’an University.