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Zhao Mengfu: example of xingshu
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Zhao Mengfu: example of xingshu
Zhao Mengfu: example of xingshu Example of xingshu by Zhao Mengfu, Yuan dynasty; in the National Palace Museum, Taipei.

xingshu

Chinese calligraphy
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Also known as: hsing-shu, running script
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Article History
Chinese:
“running script”
Wade-Giles romanization:
hsing-shu
Key People:
Wang Xizhi
Related Topics:
Chinese calligraphy
See all related content

xingshu, a semicursive Chinese script that developed out of the Han dynasty lishu script at the same time that the standard kaishu script was evolving (1st–3rd century ad). The characters of xingshu are not abbreviated or connected, but strokes within the characters are often run together. The best-known example of early surviving Chinese calligraphy, Lanting Xu (“Essay on the Orchid Pavilion”), written in 353 by Wang Xizhi but surviving only in several fine tracing copies and other forms of duplication such as rubbings, is written in this script.