| Regular script | |
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| Script type | |
Period | c. 2nd century – present |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | Oracle bone script
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Child systems | |
| Unicode | |
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| Chinese characters |
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Collation and standards
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Homographs and readings |
Theregular script[a] is the newest of the majorChinese script styles, emerging during theThree Kingdoms periodc. 230 CE, and stylistically mature by the 7th century. It is the most common style used in modern text. In its traditional form it is the third-most common in publishing after theMing andGothic types used exclusively in print.[1]
TheXuanhe Calligraphy Manual (宣和書譜) creditsWang Cizhong [zh] with creating the regular script, based on theclerical script of the earlyHan dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE). It became popular during theEastern Han and Three Kingdoms periods,[2] withZhong Yao (c. 151 – 230 BC),[3] a calligrapher in the state ofCao Wei (220–266), being credited as its first master, known as the father of regular script. His famous works include theXuanshi biao (宣示表),Jianjizhi biao (薦季直表), andLiming biao (力命表). PalaeographerQiu Xigui[2] describes the script inXuanshi biao as:
...clearly emerging from the womb of early period semi-cursive script. If one were to write the tidily written variety of early period semi-cursive script in a more dignified fashion and were to use consistently the pause technique [(頓;dùn)], used to reinforce the beginning or ending of a stroke when ending horizontal strokes, a practice which already appears in early period semi-cursive script, and further were to make use of right-falling strokes with thick feet, the result would be a style of calligraphy like that in the "Xuān shì biǎo".
However, very few wrote in this script at the time other than a few literati; most continued writing in the neo-clerical script, or a hybrid form of semi-cursive and neo-clerical.[2] The regular script did not become dominant until the 5th century during the earlyNorthern and Southern period (420–589); there was a variety of the regular script which emerged from neo-clerical as well as regular scripts[4] known as 'Wei regular' (魏楷;Wèikǎi) or 'Wei stele' (魏碑;Wèibēi). Thus, the regular script is descended both from the early semi-cursive style as well as from the neo-clerical script.
The script is considered to have become stylistically mature during theTang dynasty (618–907), with the most famous and oft-imitated calligraphers of that period being the early Tang's Four Great Calligraphers (初唐四大家):Ouyang Xun,Yu Shinan,Chu Suiliang, andXue Ji, as well as the tandem ofYan Zhenqing andLiu Gongquan.
During theNorthern Song (960–1127),Emperor Huizong created an iconic style known as 'slender gold' (瘦金體;shòujīntǐ).[5] During theYuan dynasty (1271–1368),Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) also became known for his own calligraphic style for the regular script, calledZhaoti (趙體).
92 rules governing the fundamental structure of regular script were established during theQing dynasty (1644–1912); the calligrapherHuang Ziyuan [zh] wrote a guidebook illustrating these rules, with four characters provided as an example for each.
TheEight Principles ofYong encapsulate varieties of most strokes that appear in the regular script.[6] Regular script characters with dimensions larger than 5 cm (2 in) are usually classified as 'large' (大楷;dàkǎi); those smaller than 2 cm (0.8 in) are usually classified as 'small' (小楷;xiǎokǎi), and those in between are 'medium' (中楷;zhōngkǎi).[7]
Notable works written in regular script include the Northern and Southern-eraRecords of Yao Boduo Sculpturing (姚伯多造像記) andTablet of General Guangwu (廣武將軍碑), the Sui-eraTablet of Longzang Temple (龍藏寺碑),Tombstone Record of Sui Xiaoci (蘇孝慈墓誌), andTombstone Record of Beauty Tong (董美人墓誌), and the Tang-eraSweet Spring at Jiucheng Palace (九成宮醴泉銘).
![Sheng Jiao Xu by Chu Suiliang,[b] an example of regular script](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSheng_jiao_xu.jpg)
