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Caoshu shi 草書勢, also called Caoshu zhuang 草書狀 or Shushi 書勢, is an essay on calligraphy written during the Western Jin period 西晉 (265-316) by Suo Jing 索靖 (239-303), courtesy name You'an 幼安, posthumous title Zhuang Jing 莊靖, from Dunhuang 敦煌 (today in Gansu). He was governor (taishou 太守) of the commanderies of Yanmen 雁門 and Jiuquan 酒泉, and was later appointed General of the Left Guard (zuowei jiangjun 左衛將軍) Because he held the title of Cavalry Commander Conquering the West (zhengxi sima 征西司馬), he was also referred to as Suo Zhengxi 索征西. Suo was famous for his calligraphic style, and for his "separated-character grass script" (zhangcao 章草) in particular. He was even proud of his own artworks (of which copies of the Qiyue tie 七月帖, Yueyi tie 月儀帖, Chushi song 出師頌, Jijiuzhang pian 急就章篇, and Wuqiu Xing bei 毋丘興碑 have survived). His book Suozi 索子 is lost.
Suo Jing's essay narrates the origins of the Chinese script, with a focus on of the zhangcao writing style, which emerged from the quickly written combined style of the "chancery-grass script" (licao 隸草). The second section describes the appearance of the cursive script. The text describes the different manifestations of Chinese characters written in grass script in beautifully crafted literary words and with many comparisons and analogies. The author calls the appearance of the grass script "silver hooks with scorpion tails" (yin gou chai wei 銀鈎蠆尾), which is only one of many zoological and botanical metaphors he used to express the vivid style of the script.
| 蓋草書之爲狀也，婉若銀鈎，漂若驚鸞，舒翼未發，若舉復安。 | The shape of the grass script is elegant as silver hooks, floating in grace as frightened phoenixes whose wings are not yet unfolded when calming down again. |
| 舉而察之，又似乎和風吹林，偃草扇樹，枝條順氣，轉相比附，窈嬈廉苫，隨體散布。 | When we look at [the written words], it seems that the wind is blowing in the woods, laying down the grass and shaking the trees, bending the branches so that they obey the airs. One detail goes over into the next, and the soft and slender parts are scattered over the whole [text]. |
| 或若登高望其類，或若既往而中顧，或若倜儻而不群，或若自檢于常度。 | Some [characters] appear as if looking down at their fellows, some seem to go forward while looking back, some of them are setting themselves apart from the others, while yet others seem to check themselves. |
| 厥體難窮，其類多容，婀娜如削弱柳，聳拔如裊長松，婆娑而飛舞鳳，宛轉而起蟠龍。縱横如結，聯綿如繩，流離似綉，磊落如陵。暐暐曄曄，弈弈翩翩，或卧而似倒，或立而似顛，斜而復正，斷而還連。 | Its form is hard to define; it has many variations. It is as graceful as a slender willow, as lofty as a tall pine, as fluttering and dancing as a phoenix, and as twisting and coiling as a dragon. It can be as entangled as knots, as continuous as a rope, as flowing as embroidery, and as unyielding as a peak. It shines brilliantly and sparkles delicately, sometimes appearing as if lying down and inverted, sometimes standing and seemingly overturned, tilting and then returning to its upright position, breaking off and then reconnecting. |
Because the text of Suo's Caoshu shi was written hastily in order to reflect the "energetic" (shi 勢) style of the script, some commentators had the impression that the text was a fragment.
The text is quoted in Suo's biography in the official dynastic history Jinshu 晉書, in Zhu Changwen's 朱長文 (1039-1098) book Mochibian 墨池編, Chen Si's 陳思 (1225-1264) Shuyuan jinghua 書苑菁華 (where it is called Suo Jing xu caoshu shi 索靖叙草書勢), and in the series Yuhanshanfang jiyi shu 玉函山房輯佚書 and Lidai shufa lunwen xuan 歷代書法論文選.