Each character can be assembled using a standardized repertoire of brushstrokes that consist mainly of orthogonal (at right angles) strokes, making it fairly easy to reproduce texts in this script type using woodblock printing technology. It is the ubiquitous script for almost all kinds of printed media in the Chinese language, because it is the most legible of all five script types. Standard script reached its zenith during the Tang dynasty (618–907 C.E.) and it is associated with the moral uprightness of the calligrapher, due to its emphasis on the balance around a central axis in its form. Standard script-the script type that most learners of Mandarin today encounter first during their studies-appeared the latest in the evolutionary sequence of Chinese calligraphy. Buddhist monasteries were important centers of learning in premodern China. Historically, some of the most famous cursive calligraphers were Chan monks, as the expressivity of the cursive script lends itself well to the unrestricted spirit associated with Chan Buddhists. Some of the most renowned cursive calligraphers were Buddhist monks who often were most inspired in a state of inebriation. Calligraphy done in cursive script readily reveals the speed in which each character was brushed, sometimes so fast that two or more characters are interconnected by ligatures (the fusion of the final stroke of the first character into the first stroke of the second). Since its maturation in the 4th century, the cursive script has been the choice for many master calligraphers to demonstrate their individuality.
Because the characters are more simplified, more freedom is allowed on the calligrapher’s part to improvise and to take more liberty with the shape of the character. Essentially an informal shorthand of the more complex forms of characters, cursive script was widely seen in epistolary writing (correspondence by letter), due to the expedient nature of its execution. Cursive script is the most expressive of all five script types it affords a calligrapher remarkable freedom thanks to this script’s relaxation of the orthographic constraints of the seal and clerical scripts.
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