Semi-cursive script: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 16:25, 24 December 2023

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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’scharacter'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 AD 353. 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 ==

The Chinese writing system has been borrowed and used in East Asian countries, including Japan, Korea and Vietnam for thousands of years due to China’sChina's extensive influence, technology and large territory. As a result, the culture of calligraphy and its various styles spread across the region, including semi-cursive script.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Li|first=Yu|title=The Chinese writing system in Asia: An interdisciplinary perspective|date=2020|isbn=978-1-000-69906-7|___location=London|oclc=1114273437}}</ref>

=== China ===

The semi-cursive style was developed in the Han Dynastydynasty.<ref name=":0" /> Script in this style is written in a more curvaceous style than the regular script, however not as illegible as the cursive script.<ref name=":4" />

One of the most notable calligraphers to produce work using the semi-cursive style is Wang Xizhi, where his work ''Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection'' was written in 353 AD.<ref name=":1" /> The work included the character [[:wikt:之|之]], a possessive particle, twenty-one times all in different forms. The difference in form was generated by Wang under the influence of having alcohol with his acquaintances. He had wanted to reproduce the work again since it was in his liking, but to no avail. ''Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection'' is still included in some of the world’sworld's most notable calligraphy works and remains highly influential in the calligraphy world.<ref name=":1" />

The semi-cursive style was also the basis of the techniques used to write with the [[fountain pen]] when Western influence was heavy in China, in the early 20th century. Although it is not officially taught to students, the style has proceeded to become the most popular Chinese script in modern times.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last1=Wu|first1=Yao|last2=Jiang|first2=Jie|last3=Li|first3=Yi|title=2018 International Joint Conference on Information, Media and Engineering (ICIME)|chapter=A Method of Chinese Characters Changing from Regular Script to Semi-Cursive Scrip Described by Track and Point Set|date=December 2018|pages=162–167|publisher=IEEE|doi=10.1109/icime.2018.00041|isbn=978-1-5386-7616-5|s2cid=58012641}}</ref> In the digital age, it has been proposed to encode Chinese characters using the "track and point set" method, which allows users to make their own personalized semi-cursive fonts.<ref name=":2"/>

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=== Korea ===

Chinese calligraphy appeared in Korea at around 2nd or 3rd century AD. 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 Dynastydynasty]].<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 ==