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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 353AD CE353. 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.
== History ==
=== Japan ===
[[File:Calligraphy of Nobuyuki Abe.jpg|thumb|Japanese calligraphy written in the semi-cursive style.]]
Calligraphy culture from China was introduced to Japan in around 600AD CE600 and has been practiced up to the modern day. Although Japan originally used Chinese characters (called ''kanji'' in [[Japanese language|Japanese]]) to represent words of the spoken language, there were still parts of the spoken language that could not be written using Chinese characters.<ref name=":4" /> The phonetic writing systems, [[hiragana]] and [[katakana]], were developed as a result of the semi-cursive and cursive styles.<ref name=":4" /> During the [[Heian period|Heian Period]], a large number of calligraphy works were written in the semi-cursive style because the roundedness of the style allowed for a natural flow between kanji and hiragana.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bernard|first1=Kyoko|last2=Nakata|first2=Yujiro|last3=Woodhill|first3=Alan|last4=Nikovskis|first4=Armis|date=1973|title=The Art of Japanese Calligraphy|journal=Monumenta Nipponica|volume=28|issue=4|pages=514|doi=10.2307/2383576|jstor=2383576|issn=0027-0741}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Boudonnat|first=Louise|title=Traces of the brush: The art of Japanese calligraphy|date=2003|publisher=Chronicle|others=Harumi Kushizaki|isbn=2-02-059342-4|___location=San Francisco|oclc=51553636}}</ref> In the [[Edo period]], general trends have been noticed where semi-cursive was used with hiragana in mixed script for "native" literature and books translated for commoners, while [[Regular script|regular script]] kanji was used alongside katakana for Classical Chinese works meant to be read by scholars.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hisada |first=Yukio |title=グローバル日本研究クラスター報告書 |date=2018-03-31 |volume=1 |pages=170–180 |chapter= The Usage of Sentences Mixing Regular-Script Kanji and Hiragana in the Latter Part of the Edo Period |chapter-url=https://ir.library.osaka-u.ac.jp/repo/ouka/all/68062/|publisher=[[Osaka University]]}}</ref>
=== Korea ===
Chinese calligraphy appeared in Korea at around 2nd or 3rd century CEAD. Korea also used Chinese characters (called ''[[hanja]]'' in [[Korean language|Korean]]) until the invention of the Korean alphabet, ''[[hangul]]'', in 1443.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Choi|first=Yearn-hong|date=2016|title=Choe Chi-won, great Tang and Silla poet|work=The Korean Times|url=http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/culture/2016/07/142_208963.html|access-date=13 August 2021}}</ref> Even then, many calligraphers did not choose to use the newly created ''hangul'' writing system and continued to write calligraphy and its various styles using Chinese characters.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brown|first=Ju|title=China, Japan, Korea: Culture and customs|date=2006|publisher=BookSurge|others=John Brown|isbn=1-4196-4893-4|___location=North Charleston, South Carolina|oclc=162136010}}</ref> In this environment, semi cursive script started seeing use in Korea during the [[Joseon Dynasty]].<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2021-07-30|title=Categories of calligraphy|url=https://swmuseum.suwon.go.kr/eng/html/02exhibit_02_04.jsp|website=swmuseum.suwon.go.kr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=2021-07-30|title=Collection of Calligraphic Works by Successive Kings from Seonjo to Sukjong – Kings of Joseon (Seonjo~Sukjong)|url=https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/collection-of-calligraphic-works-by-successive-kings-from-seonjo-to-sukjong/5QE0w581sbMB3A|work=[[Jangseogak]]|publisher=[[Academy of Korean Studies]]|via=Google Arts & Culture}}</ref>
== Characteristics ==
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