Running, or semi-cursive, script (xingshu, 行書) appeared in the decades immediately after the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220). It reached the final stage of its formative development in the fourth century. In running script, individual strokes are sometimes eliminated or condensed, and separate characters are joined by linking strokes. Due to its ease, convenience, and legibility, running script quickly became the most popular form of Chinese freehand writing in everyday use, and it retains that status today.