草书 (cǎoshū): cursive script (Chinese calligr…

Measure Word

一幅草书 fú

Meanings

1 cursive script (Chinese calligraphy style)
2 grass script

Characters

草

cǎo

grass; rough; sketchy

书

shū

script; writing

Examples

HSK 5

这幅草书笔走龙蛇。

Zhè fú cǎoshū bǐzǒu-lóngshé.

This cursive piece has brushstrokes like coiling dragons.

HSK 5

他的草书连我都认不出来。

Tā de cǎoshū lián wǒ dōu rèn bu chūlái.

His cursive script is so wild even I can't read it.

HSK 7-9

学草书要先练楷书。

Xué cǎoshū yào xiān liàn kǎishū.

To learn cursive, you have to practice regular script first.

Tips

history

Fully formed in the Han dynasty as 章草, then developed into 今草 and 狂草 ("wild cursive"). Tang-dynasty masters 张旭 (Zhang Xu) and 怀素 (Huaisu) are the canonical names for 狂草.

Stroke Order

草 cǎo

书 shū

Related Words

隶书 lìshū

clerical script (Chinese calligraphic style) / official script (Qin-Han era)

行书 xíngshū

running script (Chinese calligraphy) / semi-cursive script

软笔书法 ruǎnbǐ shūfǎ

brush calligraphy / soft-brush calligraphy (traditional Chinese calligraphy)

小人之德草 xiǎorén zhī dé cǎo

the virtue of the common people is like grass / ordinary people bend like grass to the wind of their rulers / lit. the small man's virtue is grass

楷书 kǎishū

regular script (standard Chinese calligraphic style) / kaishu

篆书 zhuànshū

seal script (ancient Chinese calligraphic style)

书亦烧仙草 Shūyìshāoxiāncǎo

Shuyi Shaoxiancao (Chinese tea chain specializing in grass-jelly drinks)

草色遥看近却无 cǎo sè yáo kàn jìn què wú

the grass-green shows from afar but vanishes up close / a haze of new grass visible only at a distance / classic image of the faint first green of early spring

草 cǎo HSK 2 #3,001

grass; straw / draft; rough

草坪 cǎopíng HSK 7-9 #5,807

lawn / grass field