written in a mature clerical script closely resemble those written in standard script. The clerical script is still used for artistic flavor in a variety of functional applications because of its high legibility for reading. Regular script Regular script (traditional Chinese: 楷書; simplified Chinese: 楷书; pinyin: kǎishū; Hong Kong and Taiwan still use traditional Chinese characters in writing, while mainland China uses simplified Chinese characters as the official script. ) is the newest of the Chinese script styles. The regular script first came into existence between the Han and Wei dynasties, even though it was not then popular. The regular script became mature stylistically around the 7th century. The first master of regular script is Zhong You. Zhong You first used regular script to write some very serious pieces such as memorials to the emperor. Semi-cursive script Semi-cursive script (simplified Chinese: 行书; traditional Chinese: 行書; pinyin: Xíngshū), is a cursive style of Chinese characters. Because it is not as abbreviated as cursive, most people who can read regular script can read semi-cursive. It is highly useful and also artistic. Cursive script (East Asia) Cursive script (simplified Chinese: 草书; traditional Chinese: 草書; pinyin: cǎoshū) originated in China during the Han dynasty through the Jin period (link needed). The cursive script is faster to write than other styles, but difficult to read for those unfamiliar with it. The "grass" in Chinese was also used in the sense of "coarse, rough; simple and crude." It would appear that cǎo in the term caoshu "grass script" was used in this same sense. The term cǎoshū has broad and narrow meanings. In the broad sense, it is non-temporal and can refer to any characters which have been hastily written. In the narrow sense, it refers to the specific handwriting style in Han dynasty. History Ancient China Chinese characters can be retraced to 4000 B.C. signs (). In 2003, at the site of Xiaoshuangqiao, about 20 km southeast of the ancient Zhengzhou Shang City, ceramic inscriptions dating to 1435–1412 B.C. have been found by archaeologists. These writings are made in cinnabar paint. Thus, the dates of writing in China have been confirmed for the Middle Shang period. The ceramic ritual vessel vats that bear these cinnabar inscriptions were all unearthed within the palace area of this site. They were unearthed mostly in the sacrificial pits holding cow skulls and cow horns, but also in other architectural