[Edit this paragraph] Brief history and characteristics
Any style of writing requires simplicity and easy writing, and there is a tendency to preserve stick figures and scrawled handwriting. This trend is the main reason for the evolution of characters. In the period of social change and cultural development, characters are frequently used, individuals are easy to simplify, and variant characters are accelerated. In order to make Chinese characters useful for application, it is necessary to correct them. Tai Shi Shu, Li Si Zhuan, Cheng Miao Li Shu and Cai Yong's Xiping Book of Songs, written in eight-part script, are all standard characters promulgated by Zhou, Qin and Han dynasties respectively to standardize the popular characters at that time, and are also recognized as the beginning of a new script that has formed regular script.
But the trend towards simplicity has not stopped. As early as in the inscriptions of Shang Dynasty Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Zhou Dynasty, which recorded the important events of emperors and generals, there were stick figures and scrawled handwriting. "Qu Yuan is a grasshopper" and "Dong Zhongshu's calligraphy is not on the page" in Historical Records show that the ancient prose of the Warring States period and the official script of the Western Han Dynasty are incorrect in rapid writing. According to Wei Jinzhi, Liu Mu, the revered king of Beihai in the Eastern Han Dynasty, is "good at history books, and today people think it is a model". Before Liu Mu died, Ming Di sent a post horse to write ten cursive scripts. During the reign of Zhang, it was a good example to learn Chinese characters. Emperor Zhang once ordered the writing of cursive script. It can be seen that since the middle of 1 century, cursive characters have not been written in a hurry, but have been cherished and imitated. It can be seen from the Han bamboo slips unearthed in modern times that the simplified characters of the official script of the Western Han Dynasty have become popular. In the era of Xin Mang, there were more stroke-saving and ligature characters. In the 22nd year of Jianwu (AD 46), the bamboo slips were completely cursive. However, from the Zhou Dynasty to Xin Mang, cursive script was never listed as a kind of calligraphy.