Chinese script that is a simplified stylization of clerical script; the clerical script was transformed into a more fluent and easily written form. Characterized by clear-cut corners and straight strokes of varying thickness, this script emerged by the end of the Han Dynasty, and became popular during the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern periods. It underwent its most vital period of development and was the most important type of script during the Tang dynasty (618-907), when a successful career in the civil service depended in part on skill as a calligrapher. It remains the standard script in use today and the model for public function and printed type.
