Cursive script (simplified Chinese: ?; traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: c?osh?) is a style of Chinese calligraphy. Cursive script is faster to write than other styles, but difficult to read for those unfamiliar with it. It functions primarily as a kind of shorthand script or calligraphic style. Cursive script originated in China during the Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE) through the Jin Dynasty period (266 - 420 CE), in two phases. First, an early form of cursive developed as a cursory way to write the popular and not yet mature clerical script. Faster ways to write characters developed through four mechanisms: omitting part of a graph, merging strokes together, replacing portions with abbreviated forms (such as one stroke to replace four dots), or modifying stroke styles.