Oracle Bone Script
The oracle bone script is the earliest existing characters in China. These characters carved on tortoise shells or animal bones are quite mature(成熟). Before recognizing the oracle bone script, people regarded the shells and bones as medical materials. Accidentally, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty discovered these tortoise shells and animal bones. After careful study, he believed that these signs were the characters of the Shang Dynasty more than 3000 years ago. From these characters, people can roughly understand the daily life of the rulers at that time. The oracle bone script provides important materials for research into the origin of Chinese characters. Regular Script
The regular script was developed during the Wei and Jin dynasties, and came to prominence(卓越)in the Tang dynasty. It is still today's standard writing. The characters of this style are square in form, and non-cursive in strokes. When one learns calligraphy(书法), it is helpful to begin with the regular script because the structure is regular and easy to handle and copy. The regular characters with a width larger than five centimeters belong to big regular script, while those smaller than two centimeters belong to small regular script. Characters whose sizes are in-between belong to medium regular script.
Running Script
The running script is somewhere between the regular script and the cursive(连笔的)script, allowing simpler and faster writing. When carefully written with distinguishable(可辨认的)strokes, the running characters will be very close to the regular style, and can be called the" running regularscript". Wang Xizhi in the Easten Jin dynasty was traditionally referred to as the" Sage of Chinese Calligraphy". Among his works, those in the running style are recognized as his best.
Oracle Bone Script
