Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Xingshu
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images
Zhao Mengfu: example of xingshu
Quick Facts
Chinese:
“running script”
Wade-Giles romanization:
hsing-shu
Key People:
Wang Xizhi
Related Topics:
Chinese calligraphy
See all related content
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
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
Also known as: hsing-shu, running script
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
Last updated
•History

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.