3. Clerical script

When time-consuming seal script could not keep up with multiplied clerical work in Qin, people in servitude were assigned to assist. Their handwriting was called clerical script, a shortcut of seal script. This script continued into the Han while seal script was confined to seals, banners and title of inscriptions. Wang Cizhong of Shanggu standardized clerical script. The then Emperor Ling was keen on calligraphy, and his keenness yielded many skilled men. The best of the bunch was Shi Yiguan, who could write big characters three meters square or hundreds of small characters on a wood slip an inch wide, which he was proud of. Sometimes he went to a wineshop with empty pockets. He wrote on its wall while waiting his wine money from admiring crowd. When he had enough copper cash for the day, he would scrape the wall clean. He used to pare or burn his wood slips at the finish. To obtain his slips, Liang Gu pretended to be partaking of his drink, then stole his slips when he was drunk. Benefiting from those slips, Liang Gu at last advanced to the Minister of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs. Shi Yiguan joined Yuan Shu's army later. The skilled inscription of Stele of Geng Qiu in Songzi County, which was erected by Yuan, is said to be his handwriting. Liang Gu joined Liu Biao¹ later on. When Jingzhou fell, Cao Cao² recruited him. Cao appointed him the Magistrate of Luoyang, but Liang mistook it for the Constable of the Watch. In confusion, he bound himself to see Cao, thereupon Cao reappointed him to the Secretariat. Liang was a diligent secretary; this is why we can see many of his works today. Cao took delight in hanging Liang gu's calligraphy in his camp tent and inscribing it on the boards that still hang in his palace. With his favor Cao thought Liang wrote a better hand than Shi Yiguan. Liang was good at big characters, while his contemporary Handan Chun was good at small characters. He once said that Handan had the essential of Wang Cizhong's standard; his characters in fact exerted it to the extreme. His disciple Mao Hong taught in the Secretariat, whose clerical style is what we practice today. By the end of Han, Zuo Bo was famous, but a little inferior to Liang Gu and Handan Chun. To the beginning of Wei, Zhong You and Hu Zhao defined semi-cursive script that comes into fashion today. Both of them learned it from Liu Desheng, while Zhong is just a little different from Hu.

4. Cursive script

Cursive script was developed during the Han, but we just don't the name of those forerunners. Du Cao, the governor of Qi during the rein of Emperor Zhang, was good at it. After him Cui Yuan was famous. Du knitted his characters well; Cui had the momentum, but gave less attention to character structure. Zhang Zhi devoted himself to this style. He practiced on every piece of semifinished silk from his family's loom before they were bleached. He used to wash his brush in a pond nearby, by which the pond was eventually turned inky. Whenever he put brush to paper, he set a pattern for later times. He often concluded a letter by saying “It is pressing, thus in cursive script.” His work was much treasured then, and is even more valuable today. Wei Dan called him god of cursive script. His youngest brother Zhang Chang also wrote a good hand. His students Wei Dan, Jiang Mengyin and Liang Kongda were famous afterward, but not as good as his brother. His contemporary Luo Shujing and Zhao Yuansi were famous in south and quite proud of themselves. It was for this reason that he said, “Though I may fall short of Du and Cui, I am still better than Luo and Zhao.” Zhang Chao, a fellow countryman of Cui Yuan, was famous in north, but he didn't have a good grasp of Cui's technique as Zhang Zhi did. What follows is Cui Yuan's Cursive Script.

After Cang Ji created characters by suggestion of birds' footprints, keeping records by writing began. When government affairs grew complicated, the old style lagged behind. Weeding out its superfluities, clerical script came into use. Reducing clerical characters further to bare essentials, cursive script was then worked out. Lending handwriting the virtue of speed, the new style met all urgent administrative need. Since this is meant to be a adaptation, why should we be punctilious to old fashion? Upon savoring its expression, we see a new standard in its own right. Not as square as a carpenter's square nor as round as an apple, the strokes slope backward in a lop-sided manner. Sometimes they appear as alert as anxious birds on the verge of flight, or astonished wily hares about to flee. Sometimes they appear as scattered as a chain of pearls, or a herd of cattle rushing in pent-up fury. In other cases they appear as dangerous as tottering rocks sitting on the edge of cliff, or mantises hanging on twigs. At the finish, the ending stroke flows onto the next character as if a wasp seeks an opportunity to attack, or a returning snake still shows its tail. Viewing at a distance, the whole looks like a gloomy hill or a collapsing precipice; examining closely, no single stroke can be altered. The variations depend on the context. What touched here is only a brief account.

1. A seignior in Three Kingdoms period. Jingzhou was his manor.
2. King of Wei.

Wei was a scholar-calligrapher of Western Jin. His grandfather Wei Ji, father Wei Guan, and niece Wei Shuo all notable calligraphers. This article is part of Biography of We Heng, Book of Jin, 646. Four scripts here refer to ancient script, seal script, clerical script and cursive script. Semi-cursive script is not on the list, but it was first mentioned by him. His description of the early events in Chinese calligraphy history is reliable.