Semi-cursive script: Difference between revisions

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'''Semi-cursive script''' ({{zh|s=行书|t=行書|first=t|p=xíngshū}}), also known as '''running hand script''', is a style of [[Chinese calligraphy|calligraphy]] which emerged in [[China]] during the [[Han dynasty]] (3rd century BC – 3rd century AD). The style is used to write [[Chinese characters]] and is abbreviated slightly where a character’s strokes are permitted to be visibly connected as the writer writes, but not to the extent of the [[Cursive script (East Asia)|cursive style]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|access-date=2021-08-14|title=5 script styles in Chinese Calligraphy|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~xc2282/calligraphy/calligraphy.html|website=www.columbia.edu}}</ref> This makes the style easily readable by readers who can read [[regular script]] and quickly writable by calligraphers who require ideas to be written down quickly.<ref name=":0" /> In order to produce legible work using the semi-cursive style, a series of writing conventions is followed, including the linking of the strokes, simplification and merging strokes, adjustments to stroke order and the distribution of text of the work.<ref name=":1" />

One of the most notable calligraphers who used this style was [[Wang Xizhi]], known for his work ''[[Lantingji Xu|Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection]]'' (''Lantingji Xu''), produced in 353 CE. This work remains highly influential in China, as well as outside of China where calligraphy using Chinese characters are still in practice, such as [[Japan]] and [[Korea]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Li|first=Wendan|title=Chinese Writing and Calligraphy|date=2010-05-31|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|doi=10.1515/9780824860691|isbn=978-0-8248-6069-1}}</ref> In modern times, semi-cursive script is the most prominent in Chinese daily life despite a lack of official education offered for it, having gained this status with the introduction of [[fountain pens]], and there have been proposals to allow for customizable fonts on computers.