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Cursive script, also known as running hand, is a particular style of Chinese calligraphy. It went through four stages of development: cursive clerical, semi-cursive, regular cursive and wild cursive. It began in the Han Dynasty, aiming to facilitate handwriting and increase efficiency. The first popular form of cursive script was cursive clerical. Later, calligraphers added or subtracted the number of strokes to turn the cursive clerical into semi-cursive. Toward the end of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhi (?-192?) allegedly rid semi-cursive script of cursive clerical vestiges, linking the final strokes of the character above with the beginning stroke of the following character, eliminating certain radicals and borrowing strokes from neighboring parts to form regular cursive script (commonly known as “cursive hand” today). During the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Xu and Huaisu (725-785, or maybe 737-799), regarded as master calligraphers of the cursive style, gave full expression of their feelings and thoughts, and wrote their characters in a freer and more uninhibited manner. Their execution of strokes featured continuous stretches, gracefully circular movement, flowing contours, amazingly bold combinations of characters and a wide variety of patterns, leading to the emergence of “wild” cursive script. People of later generations also called the latter “great cursive” as opposed to “small cursive,” which in fact referred to regular cursive.
This term refers to an artistic state wherein a calligraphic artist pursues a unity between body and soul through calligraphic creation, so that he may embrace the truths about the universe and life. It was influenced by Confucius (551-479 BC) who said: “[Cultivated people] should follow dao, adhere to virtues, embrace benevolence, and are well versed in various arts and skills.” It was influenced even more by Zhuangzi’s (369? -286 BC) aesthetic view, “If we can achieve perfection in a particular area of skill, we come close to the great Way itself.” The calligrapher aims higher than the mere art of calligraphy, aspiring to attain the great Way by transcending calligraphy as a mere skill or form of art. By the Tang Dynasty, because calligraphers put more emphasis on the different forms and skills of calligraphy, they started to use a new term “calligraphic technique.” Calligraphic technique represented an initial stage of calligraphy – a tangible, superficial and somewhat “lower” level. The calligraphic Way, on the other hand, was an advanced stage of calligraphic technique, paying attention to universal, abstract and therefore much “higher” aspects of calligraphy. This latter concept spread to Japan and took on the broader implications of self-cultivation and enlightenment later on. It, in turn, influenced the development of modern Chinese calligraphic art.
The Northern and Southern schools represent two distinctive styles of ancient Chinese calligraphy. Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) and Zhao Mengjian (1199-1267) of the Song Dynasty, and Chen Yixi (1648-1709) and He Zhuo (1661-1722) of the Qing explored the differences of these two styles. Later, Ruan Yuan (1764-1849), also of the Qing Period, addressed this issue with clarity and at depth in his “On the Southern and Northern Styles of Calligraphy.” In his view, both styles originated with Zhong Yao (151-230, from late Han to the early Three Kingdoms Period) and Wei Guan (220-291, the Three Kingdoms Period), while Suo Jing (239-303, the Western Jin Dynasty) was the founder of the northern style. The Northern School features calligraphic inscriptions on stones, which displays a primitive simplicity of the official script of the Han Dynasty. The southern style, on the other hand, is mostly found on paper and, rather than following the seal script of the Qin or the clerical script of the Han, adopts the regular script of the late Han, the semi-cursive script of the Western Jin or the cursive script increasingly popular over a much longer period of time. It is charming and beautiful.
Insect script was a special style of calligraphy current in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, also known as “bird-and-insect script” and “bird-and-insect seal script.” It was a variation of seal script. Characters written in this style resembled birds and insects in nature, hence the name. Insect script was cast or inscribed on weaponry, bells and cauldrons. For example, the 8-character inscription on the sword of Goujian, the king of the State of Yue, unearthed near Yichang in Hubei Province, adopted this very style. There were eight styles of calligraphy in use during the Qin Dynasty, among which insect script was in the fourth place. After he usurped the throne, Wang Mang (45 BC-AD23) ordered that insect script be recognized as one of the six official scripts and be used for writing on flags, tallies or seals.
The greater seal script is a form in the evolution of Chinese characters. Standing in contrast to the lesser seal script, it has two meanings. The narrow meaning specifically refers to the pre-Qin script engraved on stones (zhouwen籀文), modeled after stone-drum script in the Kingdom of Qin during the Warring States Period. It features heavy strokes, duplicated structures and an overall pattern more regular and standard than inscriptions of earlier times on bronze objects. The broader meaning refers to all kinds of stone-engraved characters including inscriptions on bronze ware, greater seal script and the stone script of all kingdoms in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. It was replaced by the lesser seal script after the Kingdom of Qin unified China.
Small seal script is a style of calligraphy derived from big seal script. After unifying the country, the First Emperor of Qin（259-210BC） ordered Li Si（?-208BC）, his prime minister, to simplify the big seal script that was most popular in the Western Zhou period. This simplified script was officially issued as the standard form of handwriting. Small seal script uses beautifully cursive and uniform lines, facilitating handwriting and reading by reducing the number of variant forms of Chinese characters. Characters written in this style are gracefully long and symmetrical; they feature a smooth starting stroke and a natural, final vertical one. The curvy lines vary as the calligrapher wishes, thus producing many simple yet elegant variations. Calligraphers of all ages have loved small seal script, a unique style of calligraphic art. It was replaced by clerical script in the Han Dynasty.
Regular script is one of the scripts of Chinese characters, also known as “proper script,” “true script,” or “model script.” To reduce the curviness and waviness of Han Dynasty clerical script, rectify the undisciplined and unregulated cursive script, facilitate writing and enhance intelligibility, calligraphers shifted toward a simpler style of writing, making both horizontal and vertical lines straighter. Thus, it evolved into the regular script. Characters written in this style looked neat and well laid out, upright and square, showing due reverence for rules governing the writing of calligraphy. This is precisely how it came to be called “model script.” It first emerged toward the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, became better known in the Wei and Jin dynasties, and fully matured and became widely accepted in the Tang Dynasty. It has been flourishing to this day. If divided by historical periods, regular script falls into two styles: Wei stone tablet regular script and Tang regular script. The former represented a transition from clerical script to regular script over the Wei, Jin and the Southern and Northern Dynasties period. The latter was Tang style regular script. Gaining its maturity in the Tang Dynasty, it witnessed many great calligraphers rising to fame, including Yu Shinan (558-638), Ouyang Xun (557-641), and Chu Suiliang (596-658 or 659) in the first years of the Tang Dynasty, Yan Zhenqing (708-784) in the mid-Tang Dynasty and Liu Gongquan (778-865) in the last years of the same dynasty. These calligraphers have since been honored as paragons of Chinese calligraphy. Numerous practitioners have been using their calligraphic works as models of calligraphy through the ages.
Clerical script is a variety of Chinese calligraphy during its evolution, also known as the “official script” or “ancient style of calligraphy.” It evolved from and was a simplification of seal script. In terms of execution of strokes, clerical script changed rounded turns to abrupt turns. Structurally, each character was wider and flatter, with longer horizontal lines and shorter vertical ones, featuring an elegant style like “a silkworm’s head and the tail of a wild goose,” and “one wave and three bends.” Clerical script is said to have been invented by a junior clerk named Cheng Miao who lived in the Qin Dynasty but actually it originated during the earlier Warring States Period. Cheng Miao was responsible only for putting into order and standardizing this calligraphic style. Compared with the seal script, clerical script was simpler in structure and more convenient to write. It became popular in the Eastern Han Period, reaching an unprecedented height of development. In the Wei and Jin period, the clerical script was also referred to as regular script, or proper script, which is similar to clerical style, but with left-falling and right-falling strokes.
Running script is a calligraphic form between cursive script and regular script. A Chinese character written in the style of running script retains the basic structure of characters written in official script. Running script features smoothly-linked strokes, and the characters written in this style are easy to recognize. Generally, people believe that running script was created by Liu Desheng of the Eastern Han Dynasty and became popular in the Wei and Jin eras. This writing style reminds one of drifting clouds and flowing water. It has no fixed arrangement for the radicals of a character and can be executed with any writing tools. The same characters written in this style by different people are different in appearance. The best-known masterpieces in this style are Wang Xizhi’s (303-361, or 307-365, 321-379) “Preface to the Collection of Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion,” Yan Zhenqing’s (708-784) “Draft Elegy to Nephew Ming,” and Su Shi’s (1037-1101) “The Cold Food Observance.” They are distinctive in style and have great aesthetic value.
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