Shi Huangdi, first emperor of a unified China, suppressed many regional scripts and enforced a simplified, standardized writing called the Small Seal. In the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) this developed into the Clerical, Running, Draft, and Regular or Standard scripts. Printed Chinese is modeled on the Standard Script. Cursive or Running or rapid writing (the Running and Draft scripts) introduced many abbreviated characters used in artistic calligraphy and in commercial and private correspondence, but it was long banned from official documents.

There have been four broadly defined styles of writing in the last 3000 Years:
1. Seal scripts, 2. Regular Brush scripts, 3. Running script, 4. "Grass" script.

The printing of abbreviated characters is still forbidden in Taiwan but has become the normal practice in the People's Republic of China. The non-abbreviated characters is referred to as the "traditional" characters. Many of the old people in the People's Republic of China still use the traditional characters and some have trouble with the abbreviated characters. The abbreviated characters is sometimes referred to as the "simplified" characters.