Running script · worksheet · Published 2026-10-08 · By The Lettering Desk
田字格 row sheet: practising 行气 instead of single characters
Running script is not judged character by character — it is judged line by line. This sheet drops the diagonals of the 米字格 and keeps only a single vertical division, so that nothing in the grid competes with the horizontal rhythm you are trying to learn. Eight columns wide, five rows deep: each row is one phrase, written in one breath.
- Glyph
- 田 — 田字格 row sheet — running script
- Hand
- Running script
- x-height
- —
- Nib / brush angle
- 单列轴线摆幅控制在格宽 8% 以内
- Tool
- 兼毫小楷或狼毫（出锋约 4 毫米）
- Stroke order
- 打印 → 定轴线 → 整行书写 → 比对轴线（4 strokes）
Sheet specification
| Parameter | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Paper | A4 landscape-free portrait, 210 × 297 mm | portrait keeps the rows long enough for real phrases |
| Margin | 16 mm | same as the regular-script sheet, so the two can be stacked |
| Cell size | 28 mm square | slightly larger than the 楷书 sheet — running script needs room for the filaments |
| Grid | 8 columns × 5 rows = 40 cells | eight characters is a natural phrase length |
| Guide lines | centre vertical only, solid hairline | the horizontal divisions are deliberately removed |
| Row gutter | 4 mm | wide enough that the filaments of one row do not touch the next |
What the missing lines are for
The 米字格's horizontal centre line is exactly what a running-script writer must stop relying on. 行气 is the vertical alignment of a column of characters: the centre of each character should stay within a narrow band as the eye travels down the column, and that band is not the same as the grid's centre line. Removing the horizontal guide forces you to find the axis by eye.
The working tolerance is 8 % of the cell width to either side — at 28 mm, roughly 2.2 mm of drift. Beyond that the column starts to look like two columns standing next to each other.
How to fill a row
- Write the first row slowly and mark the vertical centre of each character with a pencil dot afterwards. Join the dots: that polyline is your actual axis.
- Write the second row at normal speed and repeat the dot-and-join. Compare the two polylines; if the second is wilder, you were writing faster than you can steer.
- Rows three and four: write only the first and last character of the phrase, leaving the middle empty, then fill the middle in without moving the end characters. This is the single best drill for axis control.
- Row five: write the phrase complete at speed and stop the instant two consecutive characters drift in opposite directions.
Choosing phrases to practise
Four-character phrases are the standard unit: long enough for a rhythm to develop, short enough to hold in mind. Choose phrases whose characters share strokes — 之, 心, 水 and 氵 all reward a run of practice on a single sheet, because the filaments from one character can be compared against the next.
Write the phrase in all five rows rather than five different phrases. Comparing row one against row five is the entire point of the sheet; comparing five unrelated phrases teaches nothing.
Printable A4, drawn to the worksheet specification — print at 100 % and check one cell with a ruler.
Takeaways
- 28 mm cells, 8 × 5, centre vertical only — the horizontal guides are deliberately absent.
- Axis drift tolerance is 8 % of the cell width, about 2.2 mm at 28 mm.
- The dot-and-join test turns 行气 from a feeling into a measurement.
- One phrase per sheet, five rows; compare row five against row one.