Hsing-Shu or Running Style was the invention of Liu Te Sheng, of the Later Han period. In its most highly developed form it departs from the strict formality of Li-Shu. The angles of Li-Shu are softened and a great deal of movement and ease added. Both this style and Chang-Tsao were created before the real Kai Shu was established. Hsing-Shu cannot therefore be said to have derived from Kai Shu. It is a parallel style which prevailed at the same time. As the Regular Style developed and ramified it was inevitable that one variation should be a combination of Kai-Shu and Hsing Shu. The two found each other good companions, and became inseparable. Every type of Kai Shu came to have a corresponding type of Hsing-Shu. Running hand, as its name suggests, allows of freer handling and more vivid movement.
It has usurped the old position of Kai Shu as the most popular style for daily use, besides achieving recognition as one of the most artistic styles. Kai-Shu now occupies a subordinate place in the training of calligraphers.
The LanTing Xu of Wang XiZhi is considered to be the best work ever done in Hsing-Shu. Unfortunately, most of the rubbings of it found in China nowadays are mostly taken from copies made in Tang period which have probably lost the quality of the original.
The strokes and patterns of Hsing Shu are designed and executed every bit as carefully as those of Kai-Shu, only they are written in a quicker way. The strokes and dots which in Kai Shu are separate are usually joined in Hsing Shu, and, in the piece, Hsing Shu has a fluency not possed by the more formal style. Though closely related to Kai Shu, Hsing Shu can also manifest the influence of Li-Shu and Pa-Fen.
Reference
Works by Chiang Yee, Chinese Calligraphy, An Introduction to its Aesthetic and Technique
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