After the downfall of Han in 220 AD, China was split into three kingdoms: Wei, Shu and Wu.

Regular script.   The last and the most typical style of Chinese calligraphy, comparable to the Palmer Method of Western penmanship, is called, appropriately, regular style. Combining the ease of semi-cursive and the elegance of clerical style, it is characterized by squareness and precision of from, and by the rapidity with which it can be executed. In the lengthy annals of Chinese calligraphy, regular script occupies an important place, not only because it is beautiful and had famous masters who have succeeded in its difficult disciplines, but also because it is the one a schoolboy first encounters when he learns to write, which then accompanies him throughout his lives.

In 280 Jin, the usurper of Wei in 265, vanquished its last adversary Wu and ruled China as one state. This dynasty, nevertheless, enjoyed only a short period of peace. With an armed rebellion of throne-thirsty princes in 301, another round of fighting began. In 304 horse-riding Huns invaded from the north and seized Jin capital in 316, forcing the Chinese to retreat to the south.

Handwriting as an art.   Certain factors were essential for handwriting to become an art form from a mere craft. It had to be appreciated over and above its usefulness for communicating ideas or facts. There had to be a ready standard to judge bad or good examples, with which a new generation would have a starting point. And its practitioners had to be highly regarded. By the Jin, all of these conditions had been fulfilled. When Confucian system of ethics had proved unable to adapt itself to the anarchy of the time, Taoism appealed to the philosophic Chinese mind. Standing aloof from politics, Jin scholars devoted themselves to the arts and saw handwriting a vehicle of their sentiment. Image implications of newly developed regular script were defined and the expression of cursive and semi-cursive script was widely explored. Generally written on letter-sized paper and circulated in the original, the handwriting from this period is characterized by refinement and lightness.