Running script is a mainstream font with strong practicability, which is developed from official script and is between regular script and cursive script. It mainly includes typical running scripts, running scripts and running scripts. Running script sprouted in the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, formed from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Western Jin Dynasty, matured in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and prevailed in various eras after the Eastern Jin Dynasty, each with different styles.
The origin of running script: Running script is developed from official script and produced almost at the same time as regular script. The initial germination of running script is the waves in the official script of bamboo slips in various provinces, and because of the rapid writing, the official script has been changed to strokes such as apostrophe and hook, and because of the rapid writing, there is even a trend of pen-to-pen contact.
In the bamboo slips of the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, there have been some official scripts with less obvious waves, which are called "rough script" or "new official script", which is the primary stage of running script.
The formation of running script: in the bamboo slips in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, characters close to regular script can often be seen. It is said that at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Desheng was good at running script, and both Zhong You and Zhao Hu used it for reference, but "Hu Shu was fat and Zhong Shu was thin"; During the Han and Wei Dynasties, Zhong You's "calligraphy" was widely used in folk letters. A large number of mature traces of running script have been found in Loulan literature in the Western Jin Dynasty, which is the formation stage of running script.
The maturity of running script: The real maturity of running script was in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The style of Wang Xizhi's early aunt posts is almost the same as that of Loulan documents in the Western Jin Dynasty, which shows that Wang Xizhi's early running script is not fully mature.
However, Wang Xizhi's mature running script Preface to Lanting is quite different from the running script style in Loulan literature. Completely get rid of the simple style of official script, with more graceful posture and richer first strokes, which shows that the real formation of official script lies in Wang Xizhi's reform. Later, Wang Xianzhi further developed the running script and his father's vertical potential. The combination of running script and cursive script has pushed running script to a new height.
Development of running script
After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there were celebrities who were famous for their running scripts. For example, in the Tang Dynasty, Yan Zhenqing's "Sacrificing a Nephew" was known as the second running script in the world, and in the Song Dynasty, Su Shi's "Huangzhou Cold Food Poetry" was known as the third running script in the world. Zhao Mengfan combined it with regular script in Yuan Dynasty, which is a typical running script.
Dong Qichang, Huang Daozhou, Ni, Wang Duo in the Ming Dynasty, Weng Fanggang, Zhao and Wu Changshuo in the Qing Dynasty were all great calligraphers, and in every era after the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the calligraphy was brilliant.
Running script is simpler than regular script and easier to read than leather script. Running script is the most widely used script after Wei and Jin Dynasties, and it has been popular in the history of China calligraphy, adding gorgeous colors to China's calligraphy.