Cursive script (East Asia): Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Script style of Asian orthography}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{More citations needed|date=May 2024}}

{{No footnotes|date=August 2024}}

}}

{{Use American English|date = February 2019}}

{{Infobox Chinese

| title = Cursive script

| pic = Mi Fu-On Calligraphy.jpg

| piccap = [[Mi Fu]]'s ''On Calligraphy'', a written discourse about the cursive style

| float = left

| t = {{linktext|草書}}

[[zh:| s = 草书]]

| p = cǎoshū

| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|c|ao|3|.|sh|u|1}}

| j = cou2 syu1

| bpmf = ㄘㄠˇ ㄕㄨ

| w = ts'ao³ shu¹

| l = draft script

| wuu = ⁵tshau-sy₁

| phfs = chhó-sû

| poj = chhó-chir

[[ja:| kanji = 草書体]]

| kana = そうしょたい

| romaji = sōshotai

| hangul = 초서

| hanja = 草書

| rr = choseo

| vie = thảo thư, chữ thảo

| hn = {{vi-nom|草書, 𡨸草}}

}}

{{Infobox writing system

| fam1 = [[Oracle bone script]]

| fam2 = [[Seal script]]

| fam3 = [[Clerical script]]

}}

{{Table Hanzi}}

'''Cursive script''' ({{zh-tp|t=[[wikt:草書|草書]]|p=cǎoshū}}) simplified:草书, erroneously translated as '''Grass script,''' is a style of [[East Asian calligraphy|Chinese calligraphy]]. The name Cǎoshū is actually an abbreviation for [[wikt:草率书|草率书]] (cǎoshuài shū),{{fact}} meaning "sloppy script". Cursive script is faster to write than other styles, but also harder to read. It is quite often the case that persons who are capable of reading printed Chinese find themselves completely illiterate when confronted with this particular style of writing.

'''Cursive script''' ({{zh|t=草書|s=草书|p=cǎoshū}}; {{Langx|ja|草書体}}, ''sōshotai''; {{Langx|ko|초서}}, ''choseo''; {{Langx|vi|thảo thư}}), often referred to as ''grass script'', is a [[Chinese script styles|script style]] used in [[Chinese calligraphy|Chinese]] and [[East Asia|East Asian]] [[calligraphy]]. It is an umbrella term for the cursive variants of the [[clerical script]] and the [[regular script]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=caoshu {{!}} Chinese calligraphy {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/caoshu |access-date=2022-05-03 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

[[Image:CaoshuShupu.jpg|thumb|left|Cursive script in [[Sun Guoting]]'s ''Treatise on Calligraphy''.]]

The cursive script functions primarily as a kind of [[shorthand]] script or calligraphic style and is faster to write than other styles, but it can be difficult to read for those unfamiliar with it because of its abstraction and alteration of character structures. People who can read only [[regular script|standard]] or printed forms of Chinese or [[Chinese family of scripts|related scripts]] may have difficulty reading the cursive script.

==Names==

The character {{Lang|zh-Hant|{{linktext|草}}}} {{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|cǎo}} primarily means "grass", and the character {{Lang|zh-Hant|{{linktext|書}}}} {{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|shū}} means script in this context, which has led to the literal [[calque]] for {{lang|zh-Hant|{{linktext|草書}}}} as "grass script".<ref name="Ge_2019">{{cite journal |last1=Song |first1=Ge |title=Toward standardization: the English translation of Chinese terms related to calligraphic scripts |journal=Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies |date=2 January 2019 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=17–30 |doi=10.1080/23306343.2019.1605763 |url=https://commons.ln.edu.hk/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1029&context=otd |access-date=12 May 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, {{Lang|zh-Hant|草}} can be extended to mean "hurried" or "rough", from which the name {{Lang|zh-Hant|草書}} came. Thus, the name of this script is literally "draft script",<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kroll |first=Paul W. |date=2017 |title=A student's dictionary of classical and medieval Chinese |edition= Rev. |publisher=Koninklijke Brill NV |isbn=978-90-04-32478-7 |oclc=973401527}}</ref> "quick script" or "rough script". The character {{Lang|zh-Hant|草}} appears in this sense, for example, in {{Lang|zh|{{linktext|草稿}}}} (Modern Mandarin {{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|cǎogǎo}}, "rough draft") and {{Lang|zh|{{linktext|草擬}}}} ({{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|cǎonǐ}}, "to draft [a document or plan]"). The use of "cursive script" as the English translation was adopted in the early 20th century, and has become the mainstream translation, being widely used in academia and also by the [[British Museum]] in London and the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in New York.<ref name="Ge_2019" />

==History==

Cursive script originated in China through two phases during the period from the [[Han dynasty|Han]] throughto [[Jin Dynastydynasty (265-420266–420)|Jin Dynasty]] period, in two phasesdynasties. FirstFirstly, an early form of cursive developed as a cursory way to write the popular andbut nothitherto yet matureimmature [[clerical script]]. Faster ways to write characters developed through four mechanisms: omitting part of a graph, merging strokes together, replacing portions with abbreviated forms (such as one stroke to replace four dots), or modifying stroke styles. This evolution can best be seen on extant [[bamboo]] and wooden slats from the period, on which the use of early cursive and immature clerical forms is intermingled. This early form of cursive script, based on clerical script, is now called {{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|zhāngcǎo}} ({{Lang|zh|章草}}), and variously also termed ancient cursive, draft cursive or clerical cursive in English, to differentiate it from modern cursive ({{Lang|zh|今草}} {{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|jīncǎo}}). Modern cursive evolved from this older cursive in the [[Cao Wei|Wei Kingdom]] to Jin dynasty with influence from the [[semi-cursive]] and [[Regular script|standard]] styles.

[[Image:Cur Eg.png|200px|thumb|left|Chinese characters of "Cursive Script" in [[regular script]] (left) and cursive script (right).]]

[[Image:Cursive_characters_dragon.jpg|thumb|250px|8 different cursive representations of the character 龍 (dragon), from ''Compilation of Cursive Characters'' (《草字彙》), authored by Shi Liang (石梁) of the [[Qing Dynasty]]. The artists are: 1 Sun Guoting; 2, 3 [[Huai Su]]; 4 [[Yan Zhenqing]]; 5 [[Zhao Mengfu]]; 6, 7 [[Zhu Zhisan]]; 8 anonymous.]]

==Styles==

BesideBesides {{lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|zhāngcǎo}} and the "modern cursive", there is thealso "wild cursive" ({{zh-tpCJKV|tc=[[wikt:{{linktext|狂草}}|j={{linktext|狂草]]}}| p=kuángcǎo|r=kyōsō}}, Japanese ''kyōsō'') which is even more cursive and illegibledifficult to read. ItWhen it was developed by [[Zhang Xu (calligrapher)|Zhang Xu]] and [[Huai SuHuaisu]] in the [[Tang dynasty]], they were being called ''Dian{{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|Diān ZhangZhāng ZuiZuì Su''Sù}} (the crazy Zhang and the drunk Su, 颠张顛張醉素). Cursive, in this style, is no longer significant in legibility but rather in artistry.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

Cursive scripts can be divided into the unconnected style (Chinese (S) and Japanese {{CJKV|s=|p=dúcǎo|j=独草, Chinese (T) |r=dokusō|c=獨草, pinyin ''dúcǎo'', romaji ''dokusō''}}) where each character is separate, and the connected style (Chinese (S) 连绵, Chinese (T) {{CJKV|t=|p=liánmián|j=連綿, Japanese 体|r=renmentai|c=連綿体, pinyin ''liánmián'', romaji ''renmentai''}}) where each character is connected to the succeeding one.

==Derived characters==

Many of the [[simplified Chinese characters]] are modeledderived onfrom the printedstandard formsscript of the cursive formsrendition of thetheir corresponding characterscursive form ({{zh-tsp|t=[[wikt:草書楷化|草書楷化]]|sp=[[wikt:草书楷化cǎoshūkǎihuà|草书楷化]]|pc=cǎoshūkǎihuà}}), e.g. 书, 东.

Cursive script forms of Chinese characters are also the origin of the Japanese [[hiragana]] script. Specifically, whichhiragana developed from cursive forms of the [[Man'yōgana|man'yōgana]] script, called {{Nihongo|2=草仮名|3=[[sōgana]]}}. In Japan, the {{Lang|ja-Latn|sōgana}} cursive script was considered to be suitable for women's writing, and wasthus calledcame to be referred to as {{Nihongo|women’s script|[[w:女手|女手]]|onnade}},. whereas the clerical style{{Lang|ja-Latn|Onnade}} was consideredlater applied to behiragana suitableas forwell. In mencontrast, andkanji was calledreferred to as {{Nihongo|men’s script|[[w:男手|男手]]|otokode}}.

<gallery>

Cursive script forms of Chinese characters are also the origin of the Japanese [[hiragana]] script, which developed from cursive forms of the [[Man'yōgana|man'yōgana]] script. In Japan, cursive script was considered to be suitable for women, and was called {{Nihongo|women’s script|[[w:女手|女手]]|onnade}}, whereas the clerical style was considered to be suitable for men, and was called {{Nihongo|men’s script|[[w:男手|男手]]|otokode}}.

[[Image:CaoshuShupuTreatise On Calligraphy.jpg|thumb|left|Cursive script in [[Sun Guoting]]'s ''Treatise on Calligraphy''.]]

Image:Cur eg.svg|Chinese characters of "Cursive Script" in [[regular script]] (left) and cursive script (right). Notice that for the cursive form, there is only a total of 3 [[Stroke (CJK character)|stroke]]s, 17 strokes less than its regular counterpart.

[[Image:Cursive_characters_dragonCursive characters dragon.jpg|thumb|250px|8Eight different cursive representations of the character 龍 (dragon), from ''Compilation of Cursive Characters'' (《草字彙》), authored by Shi Liang (石梁) of the [[Qing Dynastydynasty]]. The artists are: 1 Sun Guoting; 2, 3 [[Huai SuHuaisu]]; 4 [[Yan Zhenqing]]; 5 [[Zhao Mengfu]]; 6, 7 [[Zhu ZhisanZhishan]]; 8 anonymous.]]

</gallery>

==Notable personscalligraphers==

{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}

*[[Wang Xizhi]]

* [[Wang XianzhiHuaisu]]

* [[ZhangWang ZhiXizhi]]

* [[ZhangWang XuXianzhi (calligrapher)|ZhangWang XuXianzhi]], Cao Sheng.

* [[HuaiWen SuZhengming]]

* [[WenYu ZhengmingYouren]]

* [[Zhang Zhi (calligrapher)|Zhang Zhi]], sage of Cursive Script

*[[Yu Youren]]

* [[LinZhang SanzhiXu]]

{{Div col end}}

==References==

* ''The Art of Japanese Calligraphy'', 1973, author Yujiro Nakata, publisher Weatherhill/Heibonsha, {{ISBN |0-8348-1013-1}}.

*Qiú Xīguī[[Qiu Xigui]] (裘錫圭2000). ''Chinese Writing'' (2000). Translation of 文字學概要 by Gilbert L. Mattos and [[Jerry Norman (sinologist)|Jerry Norman]]. Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. Berkeley, Cal.: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. {{ISBN |1-55729-071-7}}.

{{Reflist}}

*The Art of Japanese Calligraphy, 1973, author Yujiro Nakata, publisher Weatherhill/Heibonsha, ISBN 0-8348-1013-1.

*Qiú Xīguī (裘錫圭) ''Chinese Writing'' (2000). Translation of 文字學概要 by Gilbert L. Mattos and Jerry Norman. Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. ISBN 1-55729-071-7.

==External links==

[[Category:Chinese language]]

{{Commons category|Chinese cursive script}}

[[Category:Chinese calligraphy]]

* [https://www.chine-culture.com/en/chinese-calligraphy/model-of-chinese-calligraphy.php Cursive script/grass script calligraphy generator]

{{Chinese Calligraphies}}

{{Chinese language}}

{{Writing systems}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:ChineseEast Asian calligraphy]]

[[de:Grasschrift]]

[[Category:Chinese languagescript style]]

[[ja:草書体]]

[[Category:Logographic writing systems]]

[[pl:Pismo trawiaste]]

[[zh:草书]]

[[zh-classical:草書]]