This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions. (November 2011)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2011)

D'Nealian Script, a cursive alphabet — lower case and upper case.

Cursive, also known in British English as joined-up writing, joint writing, linking, running writing, or handwriting is any style of penmanship in which the symbols of the language are written in a conjoined and/or flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster. In the Arabic, Latin, and Cyrillic alphabets, many or all letters in a word are connected, sometimes making a word one single complex stroke.

While the term cursive is popular in the United States for describing this style of writing the Latin script, this term is not used elsewhere. Joined-up writing is more popular in the United Kingdom, double writing and and cursive is popular with Australian schoolchildren, and linking is more popular in New Zealand. The term handwriting is common in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Cursive is considered distinct from the so-called block letter, print-script or printing method of writing, in which the letters of a word are unconnected. A distinction is sometimes made between cursive hand(writing), such as the D'Nealian method, in which the risers of the letters are slanted loops, and letters such as f, r, s, z, D, F, G, L, Q are quite distinct in shape from their printed counterparts, and italic hand(writing), such as the Getty-Dubay (also called print-writing) or Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting methods, which eliminates loops. There are no joins from j, q or y, and a few other joins are discouraged.^[1]

In Hebrew cursive and Roman cursive, the letters are not connected. In the research domain of handwriting recognition, this writing style is called connected cursive, to indicate the difference between the phenomenon of italic and sloppy appearance of individual letters (cursive) and the phenomenon of connecting strokes between letters, i. e., a letter-to-letter transition without a pen lift (connected cursive).

The cursive that developed in the fifteenth century, Italian Renaissance is generally referred to as "italic" or "cursive italic." The term "italic" as it relates to handwriting is not to be confused with typed letters that slant forward. Many, but not all letters in the handwriting of the Renaissance were joined, as they are today in cursive italic.

The origin of the cursive method is associated with practical advantages of writing speed and infrequent pen lifting to accommodate the limitations of the quill. Quills are fragile, easily broken, and will spatter unless used properly. Steel dip pens followed quills; they were sturdier, but still had some limitations. The individuality of the provenance of a document was a factor also, as opposed to machine font.^[2]

Etymology[link]

The term cursive derives from the 18th century French cursif from Medieval Latin cursivus, which means literally running. This term in turn derives from Latin currere ("to run, hasten").^[3]

Cursive Arabic[link]

Verses from the Qur'an in Classical Arabic, written in the cursive Arabic script.

In the Classical Arabic script, letters of any given word are joined to one another by a continuous flowing line. This flowing script inspired the cursive of Medieval Latin, which in turn developed into the longhand script of English.^[4]

Roman Cursive[link]

Example of old Roman cursive.

Roman cursive is a form of handwriting (or a script) used in ancient Rome and to some extent into the Middle Ages. It is customarily divided into old (or ancient) cursive, and new cursive. Old Roman cursive, also called majuscule cursive and capitalis cursive, was the everyday form of handwriting used for writing letters, by merchants writing business accounts, by schoolchildren learning the Latin alphabet, and even by emperors issuing commands. New Roman cursive, also called minuscule cursive or later Roman cursive, developed from old Roman cursive. It was used from approximately the 3rd century to the 7th century, and uses letter forms that are more recognizable to modern eyes; "a", "b", "d", and "e" have taken a more familiar shape, and the other letters are proportionate to each other rather than varying wildly in size and placement on a line.

Cursive Greek[link]

Ancient Greek cursive script, 6th century A.D.

The Greek alphabet has had several cursive forms in the course of its development. In antiquity, a cursive form of handwriting was used in writing on papyrus. It employed slanted and partly connected letter forms as well as many ligatures. Some features of this handwriting were later adopted into Greek minuscule, the dominant form of handwriting in the medieval and early modern era. In the 19th and 20th centuries, an entirely new form of cursive Greek, more similar to contemporary Western European cursive scripts, was developed.

English cursive[link]

Cursive in English letter from 1894

Cursive writing written on notebook paper.

Cursive writing was used in English before the Norman conquest. Anglo-Saxon Charters typically include a boundary clause written in Old English in a cursive script. A cursive handwriting style—secretary hand—was widely used for both personal correspondence and official documents in England from early in the 16th century.

Cursive handwriting developed into something approximating its current form from the 17th century, but its use was neither uniform, nor standardised either in England itself or elsewhere in the British Empire. In the English colonies of the early 17th century, most of the letters are clearly separated in the handwriting of William Bradford, though a few were joined as in a cursive hand. In England itself, Edward Cocker had begun to introduce a version of the French rhonde style, which was then further developed and popularised throughout the British Empire in the 17th and 18th centuries as round hand by John Ayers and William Banson.^[5]

Back in the American colonies, on the eve of their independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, it is notable that Thomas Jefferson joined most, but not all of the letters when drafting the United States Declaration of Independence. However, a few days later, Timothy Matlack professionally re-wrote the presentation copy of the Declaration in a fully joined, cursive hand. Eighty-seven years later, in the middle of the 19th century, Abraham Lincoln drafted the Gettysburg Address in a cursive hand that would not look out of place today.

Note that not all such cursive, then or now, joined all of the letters within a word. 

In both the British Empire and the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries, before the typewriter, professionals used cursive for their correspondence. This was called a "fair hand", meaning it looked good, and firms trained their clerks to write in exactly the same script.

William Shakespeare's will, written in secretary hand^[6]

In the early days of the post office, letters were written in cursive — and to fit more text on a single sheet, the text was continued in lines crossing at 90 degrees from the original text, see Crossed letter.^{[citation needed]} Block letters were not suitable for this.^{[citation needed]}

Although women's handwriting had noticeably different particulars from men's, the general forms were not prone to rapid change. In the mid-19th century, comparatively few children were not taught the contemporary cursive; in the United States, this usually occurred in second or third grade (around ages seven to nine). Few simplifications appeared as the middle of the 20th century approached.^{[citation needed]}

After the 1960s, there arose an argument that cursive instruction was more difficult than it needed to be: that conventional cursive was unnecessary, and it was easier to write forms of simply slanted characters called italic. Because of this, a number of various new forms of cursive appeared in the late 20th century, including D'Nealian, Getty-Dubay, and Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting.Most of these models lacked the craftsmanship of earlier styles such as Spencerian Script, Zaner-Bloser, and the Palmer Method, but almost all were less demanding. With the range of options available, handwriting became non-standardized across different school systems in different English-speaking countries.^{[citation needed]}

With the advent of typewriters and computers, cursive as a way of formalizing correspondence has fallen out of favor. Most tasks which would have once required a "fair hand" are now done using word processing and a printer. However, western etiquette advocates the use of longhand in personal notes (e.g., thank-you notes) to provide a sense that a real person is involved in the correspondence.

The teaching of cursive has been de-emphasized in many public schools,^{[citation needed]} but is still used occasionally for situations such as timed tests with large writing portions, where it is considered faster by some. Also being able to write in a fair-hand is still looked upon as a sign of literacy in many countries.^[where?] In some countries, the quality of one's cursive is used to determine the appointment of public office.^[where?]

English cursive in education[link]

In one academic study, first graders who could write only 10 to 12 letters per minute were given 45 minutes of handwriting instruction for nine weeks; their writing speed doubled, their expressed thoughts became more complex, and their sentence construction skills increased.^[7] This study is sometimes cited as support for teaching cursive. However, the style of handwriting used in this research was not a cursive style.

On the 2006 SAT, a United States post-secondary education entrance exam, only 15 percent of the students wrote their essay answers in cursive.^[7]

In a 2007 survey of 200 teachers of first through third grades in all 50 American states, ninety percent of respondents said their schools required the teaching of cursive.^[8]

A 2008 nationwide survey found elementary school teachers lacking formal training in teaching handwriting to students. Only 12 percent of teachers reported having taken a course in how to teach it.^[9] 

In 2011, the American states of Indiana and Hawaii announced that their schools will no longer be required to teach cursive (but will still be permitted to), and instead will be required to teach "keyboard proficiency". As of 2011 the same was true of Illinois. Since the nation-wide proposal of the Common Core State Standards in 2009, which do not include instruction in cursive, the standards have been adopted by 44 states as of July 2011, all of which have debated whether to augment them with cursive.^[10][11]

Cursive Russian[link]

Russian Cyrillic cursive alphabet

The Russian Cursive Cyrillic alphabet is used (instead of the block letters) when handwriting the modern Russian language. While several letters resemble their Latin counterparts, many of them represent different sounds. Most handwritten Russian, especially personal letters and schoolwork, uses the cursive Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet. Most children in Russian schools are taught by 1st grade how to write using this Russian script.

Cursive Chinese[link]

Cursive forms of Chinese characters are used in calligraphy; "running script" is the semi-cursive form and "grass script" is the cursive. The running aspect of this script has more to do with the formation and connectedness of strokes within an individual character than with connections between characters as in Western connected cursive. The latter are rare in Hanzi and the derived Japanese Kanji characters which are usually well separated by the writer.

• 

  Semi-cursive style Calligraphy of Chinese poem by Mo Ruzheng

• 

  classical poem in cursive script at Treasures of Ancient China exhibit

• 

  8 cursive characters for dragon

• 

  Calligraphy of both cursive and semi-cursive by Dong Qichang

• 

  Four columns in cursive script quatrain poem, Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain. Attributed to Emperor Gaozong of Song, the tenth Chinese Emperor of the Song Dynasty

• 

  Chinese poem in cursive

• 

  One page of the album "Thousand Character classic in formal and Cursive script" attributed to Zhi Yong

See also[link]

Gallery[link]

• 

  Example of classic American business handwriting known as Spencerian script from 1884.

• 

  Table of 19th-century Greek cursive letter forms

• 

  United States Declaration of Independence

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Lessons in Calligraphy and Penmanship, including scans of classic nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century manuals and examples
• The Golden Age of American Penmanship, including scans of the January 1932 issue of Austin Norman Palmer's American Penman
• Normal and Bold Victorian Modern Cursive electronic fonts for downloading
• Mourning the Death of Handwriting, a TIME Magazine article on the demise of cursive handwriting
• Op-Art: The Write Stuff, a New York Times article on the advantages of Italic hand over both full cursive and block printing
• The Society for Italic Handwriting, supporters of teaching a simplified cursive hand
• Better Letters iOS app, smartphone/tablet software for learning and practicing an optimzed handwriting style

v t e Types of handwritten European scripts Ancient and Medieval Roman Rustic Uncial Visigothic Merovingian Carolingian Insular script Beneventan Blackletter Rotunda Bastarda Humanist Greek Cyrillic Glagolitic Gothic Modern Cursive Chancery Italic Round Secretary Library Copperplate Spencerian Kurrent Sütterlin Cyrillic Shorthand

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: The article lacks structure and needs more background information (as well as sources).. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (December 2011)

This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (December 2011)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2011)

There are many people in history who are commonly appended with the phrase "the Great", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as e Bozorg and e azam in Persian and Urdu respectively.

In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.^[1]

The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus)^[2] assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "the Great".

The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).

Later rulers and commanders began to use the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.

As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of later generations in using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "The Great" in his lifetime but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "The Great". A later Hohenzollern - Wilhelm I - was often called "The Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.

Rulers[link]

• Abbas I of Persia (1571–1629), Shah of Iran
• Akbar (1542–1605), ruler of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, mainly India
• Alain I of Albret (1440–1522), French aristocrat
• Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and all of Mesopotamia
• Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446), King of Georgia
• Alfonso III of León (c. 848-910), King of León, Galicia and Asturias
• Alfred the Great (848/849-899), King of Wessex
• Antiochus III the Great (c. 241–187 BC), ruler of the Seleucid Empire
• Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BC), Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty
• Ashot I of Iberia “the Great”(died 826/830), presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia),
• Askia Mohammad I (c. 1442–1538), ruler of the Songhai Empire
• Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927), King of Thailand
• Bolesław I Chrobry (967-1025), sometimes called "the Great", first King of Poland
• Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the following section)
• Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1736–1809), founder and ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (in what is now Thailand)
• Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995-1035), King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden
• Casimir III the Great (1310–1370), King of Poland
• Catherine the Great (1729–1796), Empress of Russia
• Chandragupta II (reigned 375-413/415), also known as Vikramaditya, ruler of the Gupta empire in India
• Charlemagne (died 814), King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans
• Chulalongkorn (1853–1910), King of Siam (now Thailand)
• Chlothar II (584-629), King of Neustria and King of the Franks
• Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097-1157), Margrave of Meissen
• Constantine I (c. 272-337), Roman emperor
• Cyaxares the Great (c. 625-585 BC), third king of Media
• Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), founder and ruler of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire
• Darius the Great (550 – 486 BC), third ruler of the Persian Empire
• Devapala (died 850), ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent
• Dionysius I, Greek tyrant of Syracuse^[3]
• Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065), King of León and Count of Castile
• Frederick the Great (1712–1786), King of Prussia
• Genghis Khan (1162?-1227), founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
• Gero (c. 900–965), ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe
• Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594–1632), King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader
• Gwanggaeto the Great, King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea^[4][5]
• Hanno the Great, the name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC
• Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002)
• Henry IV of France (1553–1610), King of France and King of Navarre
• Herod the Great (73/74 BC-4 BC), King of Judea
• Hugh the Great (898-956), Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris
• Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France
• Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057–1101)
• Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123), Anglo-Norman aristocrat
• Ivan III of Russia (1440–1505), Tsar of Russia
• John I of Portugal (1358–1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve
• John II of Aragon (1398–1479), King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre
• Justinian I (483-565), Byzantine Emperor
• Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819), first King of Hawai'i
• Kanishka (died c. 127), ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India
• Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010–1029), King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia
• Kublai Khan (1215–1294), Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty
• Llywelyn the Great (c. 1172–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales
• Louis I of Hungary (1326–1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland
• Mangrai the Great (1238–1317), Lanna, northern Thailand
• Emperor Meiji (1852–1912), Emperor of Japan
• Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418)
• Mithridates II of Parthia (died 88 BC), ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present day Iran)
• Mithridates VI of Pontus (134 BC–63 BC), ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom
• Mstislav I of Kiev (1076–1132), Grand Prince of Kievan Rus
• Naresuan (1555–1605), King of Ayutthaya
• Narai (1633–1688), King of Ayutthaya (in what is now modern Thailand)
• Odo the Great (died c. 735), Duke of Aquitaine
• Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)
• K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603-683), ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque
• Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186), King of Sri Lanka
• Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia (died 1075), King of Croatia
• Peter the Great (1672–1725), Tsar of Russia
• Peter III of Aragon (1239–1285), King of Aragon and King of Sicily
• Pompey (106 BC-48 BC), military and political leader of the late Roman Republic, rival of Julius Caesar
• Radama I (1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar
• Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947-1014), Indian emperor of the Cholas.^[6][7][8]
• Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014–1044), Tamil King of India
• Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC), considered the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt
• Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247-1298), King of Sukhothai (in present day Thailand)
• Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082–1131), also Count of Provence and various other counties
• Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878), King of Gwynedd (in present day Wales)
• Roman the Great (after 1160-1205), Grand Prince of Kiev
• Saladin (c. 1138-1193), Kurdish Sultan of Egypt and Syria, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and victor over the Crusaders
• Samudragupta (c. 335–375), ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent
• Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035), King of Kingdom of Navarre
• Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC), ruler of the Akkadian Empire
• Sejong the Great (1397–1450), Korean king^[9]
• Shapur II (309-379), king of the Sassanid Empire, Persia
• Simeon I of Bulgaria (864/865-927), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire
• Stephen III of Moldavia (1433–1504), Prince of Moldavia (Romania)
• Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (c. 1308-1355), King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks
• Taksin (1734–1782), King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand)
• Tamar (1160-1123), Queen of the Georgian Empire
• Timur (1336–1405), better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty
• Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie
• Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire
• Theodosius I (347-395), Roman emperor
• Tigranes the Great (140-55 BC), Emperor of Armenia
• Tiridates III of Armenia (285-339), King of Armenia
• Umar (c. 586 to 590–644), second caliph of the Muslim Empire
• Valdemar I of Denmark (1131–1182), King of Denmark
• Valentinian I (364-375), Roman Emperor
• Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958-1015), ruler of Kievan Rus
• Vytautas (c. 1350-1430), archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy
• William I, Count of Burgundy (1020–1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon
• William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969-1030), also Count of Poitou
• Xerxes I (519-465 BC), King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia)
• Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China

Religious figures[link]

• Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492-586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East
• Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366, hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia
• Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian
• Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt
• Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader
• Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Greek bishop and theologian
• Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)
• Euthymius the Great (377-473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint
• Gertrude the Great (1256-c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint
• Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)
• Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi, Palestine
• Pope John Paul II (1920–2005)
• Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400-461)
• Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Egyptian hermit
• Pope Nicholas I (c. 800-867)
• Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople
• William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites

Other[link]

• Beli Mawr, a figure in medieval Welsh literature and genealogies
• Emmy the Great, folk singer
• Matteo Rosso the Great, Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III
• Prokop the Great, Hussite general in Bohemia

See also[link]

• Epithet
• List of monarchs by nickname
• List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I
• James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus
• Ajax (mythology), called Ajax the Greater
• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whose common honorific "Mahatma" means "Great Soul"

Notes[link]

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

This is a Chinese name. The family name is Hán.

Han Geng
Hangeng in Jakarta, Indonesia
Chinese name	韓庚 (Traditional)
Chinese name	韩庚 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Hán Gēng (Mandarin)
Ancestry	Nanai
Born	(1984-02-09) 9 February 1984 (age 28) Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, China
Occupation	Singer, dancer, actor, model
Genre(s)	Mandopop, K-pop, dance, R&B, folk dance
Label(s)	SM Entertainment (2005–2010) Yue Hua Entertainment (2010-present)
Years active	2005–present
Associated acts	SM Town, Super Junior, Super Junior-M
Influences	Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Jackie Chan, Andy Lau
Official Website	Han Geng's Official Site

Han Geng (born February 9, 1984) is a Chinese Mandopop singer and actor well known for his powerful dance skills. He is skillful in all China's 56 ethnic traditional dances, as well as ballet and hip-hop dance. He has been dubbed "Dancing King" and "King of Popularity" in China. He started his career, in 2001, when he was chosen by SM Entertainment (SME) to become a member of South Korean boy band Super Junior, which debuted in 2005, and as the leader of its sub-group Super Junior-M in 2008.

On 21 December 2009, Han filed a lawsuit against SME to terminate his contract as he felt that the 13-year contract was unlawful, overly restrictive and unfair. He also argued that he was forced to do things outside of his contract and refused sick leave which led to kidney illness.^[1][2] and has since returned to China to pursue a solo career. On 21 December 2010 the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of Han, however a representative of SM Entertainment said that they will file an immediate appeal to reverse the decision.^[3] On September 27, 2011, Han Geng's departure from Super Junior was made official when legal representatives of both Han Geng and S.M. Entertainment eventually released a statement stating, "Han Geng and S.M. Entertainment have amicably settled on a mutual agreement, and the lawsuit was able to come to a close after Han Geng submitted his 'Notice of Withdrawal of Appeal'." ^[4][5]

For his various contributions to the spread of Chinese culture, Han was chosen as a torch bearer for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first boy band member in history to hold this role.^[6]

Early life[link]

Han Geng, of ethnic Nanai descent from Northeast China, was born in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, China.^[7] He attended Guang Hua Elementary School from 1990 to 1996.^[8]

Han Geng started to learn dancing since he was young. By the age of 12, he was accepted into the dance department of the Central University for Nationalities. He left his family and his hometown in the Northeastern part of China to attend dance school in Beijing. During his years in the school, he mastered all 56 types of Chinese traditional dances from the 56 Chinese ethnic groups.^[a][9]

At Central University for Nationalities[link]

At the age of 12, he was accepted into Central University for Nationalities and left Mudanjiang for Beijing to pursue dancing. During that time he also learned ballet and martial arts^[8] and performed in many countries including the United States, Russia, Taiwan, and Macau.^[8]

In 1999, as a representative of the Nanai ethnic group, he participated in the parade in honor of China's 50 year anniversary.^[10]

Career[link]

Korea and Super Junior[link]

In December 2001, South Korea's biggest Entertainment Agency, SM Entertainment, went to China to hold an audition in Beijing with hopes of finding new talents in the country. The audition was called H.O.T. CHINA Audition Casting. Han Geng, who was preparing for his graduation performance at the Central University for Nationalities, immediately caught the attention of the agency's talent scouts and was invited to participate in the audition, but he wasn't very interested as he never heard of the company before. One of his friends, however, was very interested and persuaded Han Geng in accompanying him to the audition. Although hesitant at first, Han agreed to audition with his friend. The competition rate was 3,000 to 1, and Han had no hopes of getting selected after auditions ended.^[9]

After the audition, Han began to work briefly as a cameo actor in short low-budget Chinese films and performing in local events across the country to earn a salary before entering college. In late August 2002, Han was notified that he had been selected by SM Entertainment.^[8] After Han's graduation from the Central University for Nationalities, he was sent to South Korea in March 2003 and received private lessons in singing, dancing, acting, and Korean language. By mid 2003, Han had moved into dormitories and lived with other trainees who were under the same label and started to receive intense hip hop and street dance training. He started out as a Class C dancer (the lowest class for dancing), as he had zero knowledge in hip hop dance at the time, but in the short period of six months, he went straight to Class A, skipping Class B. At that time, there were only 3 people in Class A – Han Geng, Donghae, and Eunhyuk.^[8]

On February 6, 2005, Han was officially announced to be part of one of South Korea's all-boy rotational musical groups, Super Junior, as a member of its first generation, Super Junior 05. Being the first group with a Chinese and foreign member to formally debut in South Korea, the media closely followed the group. Three months later after the announcement, Han made his first media appearance as a runway model along with fellow group member Choi Siwon in a fashion show organized by Bum Suk. The two members are extremely good friends, and have even considered themselves "sworn brothers."

Han was one of the few members of Super Junior who actively appeared on variety shows, such as being a regular guest in Love Letter and Star Golden Bell. Being active in variety shows, his popularity within Super Junior grew and Han became popular overseas. Aside from South Korea, Han also became well known in China, where he made guest appearances in different Chinese variety shows, being one of the first K-pop idols to appear in them.^[11] Han became a national celebrity in China with the debut of Super Junior's third subgroup Super Junior-M on April 8, 2008 in China, with Han Geng as the leader of the group. The subgroup released their first Chinese-language studio album, Me, on May 2, 2008. The album debuted on Taiwan's G-music combo charts as #2 and #1 on many of China's and Thailand's music charts.^[12] Leading his fellow Korean members to develop in his home country, his popularity immediately soared in China. His overwhelming popularity set him apart from the rest of the group, catching the media's attention and making him become in high demand by numerous TV shows, commercials and movies. However, his agency did not allow him to take part in such activities without the rest of the group, restricting his solo appearances.

Han Geng ceased activities with Super Junior and Super Junior-M, the sub-group that he was leading, after filing for contract termination from SM Entertainment on December 21, 2009. Currently, most of the lines in the Chinese language songs that he sang while active with Super Junior-M are now covered by Eunhyuk and Sungmin who were added into the group as of 2011.

Acting[link]

Han made a cameo appearance with band-mate Eunhyuk as a friend of Heechul in an episode of the MBC drama Rainbow Romance early 2006. In August 2006, Han played the role of a police officer in Zhang Liyin's debut music video "Timeless", starring alongside Lee Yeon-hee and bandmate Siwon. The two-part music video was released separately in September 2006. The music video was ranked #1 for four weeks on Melon's Video Chart. In November 2007, Han starred as the lead role in Zhang's debut Chinese music video, "I Will", and "The Left Shore of Happiness" alongside Lee and Siwon. Both music videos were released in February 2008.

Han's first big-scale film was Attack on the Pin-Up Boys, an SM Pictures production that starred all Super Junior members except Kyuhyun. He made a cameo as a popular basketball player who later got attacked by a mysterious force. Despite positive critical ratings, that film did not do well in the box-office. However, all four versions of the film's DVD were sold out and broke chart records.^[13]

In late 2008, Han filmed the CCTV mini drama called Stage of Youth in China. In the mini drama, he played Xia Lei, a young man who has to go through numerous obstacles and challenges in order to achieve his dream to become the new generation's dancing star. The 12 episode drama was a Chinese New Year Special and also a tribute to the Beijing Olympics 2008. It aired on CCTV-Children (少儿频道) from January 19–31, 2009.

In the middle of 2010, Han Geng was given a cameo role as Deng Xiaoping in the government funded film The Founding of a Party (建党伟业) along with many other A-list Chinese celebrities. The movie premiered in China on June 15, 2011.

Han Geng was cast alongside Barbie Hsu and Fahrenheit's Wu Chun for the Sino-Hollywood collaboration action movie My Kingdom (2011) (大武生). The film is directed by Gao Xiaosong, produced by Andre Morgan and features action directing by Sammo Hung. Filming began in October 2010, although the actors trained in martial arts and Beijing opera for three months before this. The filming wrapped up in late January 2011, and the movie was released September 9th, 2011 in eight different countries.

In mid-2011 Han Geng was cast in the film "The First President" (第一大总统) as Hu Han Min, the secretary of Sun Yat-sen. He started filming on June 14, 2011, and the film was released September 30th, 2011.

2008 Beijing Olympics torch bearer[link]

On March 20, 2008, Han was announced to be one of the torch bearers for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the first boyband member to be chosen in history.^[6] Being active in a foreign country, Han had constantly promoted Chinese culture in Korea, earning him a spot as torch bearer.^[6] His torch relay was in the Beijing route on August 7, 2008. He was runner number 240. Besides being a torch bearer, he also sung in the Beijing Olympic theme song "Beijing Welcomes You" (北京欢迎你).

Charity Work[link]

Han Geng is extremely active in many charities and constantly tells his fans that instead of buying gifts for him, they should use their resources to help those in need. Han Geng is most noted for donating most of his 2008 income to the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake.^[14] He also donated 100,000RMB to the 2010 Yunnan Drought.^[15] In 2010, Han Geng became a spokesperson for "I Want To Go To School Kappa 1200 Help the School Children Project," a charity designed to help underprivileged Chinese children go to school. While most celebrities that participated sponsored one child through the program, Han Geng chose to sponsor ten, and Han Geng's fans, known as Gengfans (庚饭, lit. "Geng Rice"), sponsored another 124.^[16] Han Geng also recorded a song with Olivia Ong to promote the charity.^[17] In 2011, Han Geng recorded a charity song "孩子 (Children)" with various artists in order to promote child-trafficking awareness. Also in 2011, Han Geng became a spokesperson for the "Sunflower Project" which aims to provide electricity to students in rural China so that they can complete their studies. In early 2012, Han Geng became the Mainland China initiator of the "Love Life" charity movement.

In response to Han Geng's request, Gengfans are also extremely active in charities and often gather together to go to poor regions in China to help kids and families in need in Han Geng's name. They call this project "Let Love Fly". Such charities have become a tradition among Gengfans, especially during Han Geng's birthday every year.

Solo career[link]

On June 22, 2010, Han Geng officially announced his solo career at a press conference held at The Great Wall Of China, revealing the release of his first solo album titled Geng Xin 庚心, which hit stores throughout Asia on July 27. The name of the album literally means "Geng's heart", but it is also a play on words because it has the same pronunciation as "start anew" in Chinese. There is also a third meaning to it: the character Geng 庚 in his name comes from the evening star Hesperus/Venus (长庚星, Chang Geng Xin), which is what he's named after. So his album’s title can also mean "Evening Star" or "Geng's star", since Xing 星 (star) and Xin 心 (heart) have similar pronunciation in Chinese.^[18] There are two versions of the album depending on the locations of where it was released. In Mainland China the albums came with the titles of the songs and the song lyrics written in simplified Chinese characters while in Hong Kong and Taiwan and oversea Chinese communities they are all written in traditional Chinese characters.

On July 6, Han Geng published a complete demo version of his album's title song "My Logo". The song was produced by American producers, Craig Williams and Rene Van Verseveld.^[19] Remarkably, Han Geng and Craig Williams invited Travis Payne and Stacey Walker (best known as Michael Jackson's choreographers) along with Michael Jackson's This Is It dancers – Dres Reid, Shannon Holtzapffel, Tyne Stecklein, and Daniel Celebre to join the choreography for the MV of this song. The lead track "My Logo" is listed at number 26 on Hit Fm Taiwan's Hit Fm Annual Top 100 Singles Chart (Hit-Fm年度百首單曲) for 2010.^[20]

Han Geng also held his first two solo concerts in Beijing on July 17 and 18. Tickets for the 2 concert days were sold out in a record time of 37 minutes. His first solo album has topped various major music charts in China, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. It has sold more than 350,000 copies within only 2 months after its release, and to celebrate such remarkable results, a special celebratory version of the album was released on October 1 with a limited number of 20,000 copies. In addition of the 10 songs in the album, the special version contains 7 MVs and a karaoke disc.^[21] As of December 2010, the album has sold more than 530,000 copies. The DVD for his Beijing concerts was released on 20 May 2010, and quickly took the number 1 position on various online retail charts.

Han Geng quickly became one of the most marketable young idols in the Mandopop scene, and since the start of his solo career has received over 20 awards. He has also picked up several major endorsements, most notably with China Mobile, Meng Niu Yogurt, Yishion clothing store, which signed an eight year contract with him due to the overwhelming positive feedback, Nokia, X-step Athletic-wear's Urban Series, Royal Wind Shampoo, online store Lumei, and the video game Tian Xia 2 (ended in 2011), which features a character in his likeness. Due to his overwhelming popularity, Han Geng was invited to perform in the 2011 CCTV Spring Festival, where he sang the opening and performed a short dance.

Han Geng also received much love from the Chinese fashion industry in 2011, constantly gracing the covers of top-tier fashion magazines. He is currently the youngest person to ever grace the cover of Harper's BAZAAR China at the age of 26 and the youngest artist for the cover of the MR Hong Kong at the age of 27. He is also the first ever mainland Chinese artist to appear on the cover of L'OFFICIEL HOMMES China, the issue was also a double cover, both featured Han Geng.

Han Geng also already announced a second album, to feature rock music elements, and an Asia-wide tour expected in the Summer of 2012.

Gengfans and Wings Of Love[link]

Gengfan (庚饭) is the official name of Han Geng's fans. The name was created by his Chinese fans and it literally means "Geng Rice". The name is a play on words which contains various meanings. One of them is the fact that the word for rice in Chinese sounds like the English word "fan". The other meaning is that because Han Geng is known to love eating, they call themselves his "rice" so they can be his main source of energy. The third meaning is that the word Gengfan when abbreviated, becomes GF, which is also the abbreviation of the word "girlfriend" in English. There are also many sub-classifications of Gengfans such as Sister Fans (Gengfans who are older than him), Geng Knights (male Gengfans), Mother Fans (Gengfans who are mothers), etc. Gengfans generally use the colors yellow and black to represent themselves. They are known for their strong and unconditional support as well as for their massive numbers. They're also known to be very active in charities ever since Han Geng asked them to not give him gifts but use the money to help those in need instead.

On Han Geng's 23rd birthday in February 2007, they created a song called Wings of Love as a gift for him. The lyrics, arrangement, singing and music video were all done by his fans as an encouragement for him to continue pursuing his dreams. The lyrics of the song are extremely touching and became a type of anthem for Gengfans all around the world; thus, they call themselves his wings of love. As a gesture of gratitude, Han Geng has recorded his own version of the song in his first solo album, changing the lyrics slightly to sing it back to his fans.

Controversies[link]

Performance restrictions[link]

Before his debut, Han entered Korea with a vacation visa and had to return to China every three months for a new one.^[8] After debuting in 2005, his company obtained an E-6 (Entertainment Industry) passport, allowing him to stay for longer periods. However, a Chinese passport strictly limited his promotional activities and appearances in various broadcasting corporations in Korea. By law, a Chinese passport holder is only allowed to perform on three television stations. Han was allowed to perform on KBS and SBS, as stated by Lee Soo Man during a Harvard Korean Wave conference in early 2007. Fellow labelmate, Zhang Liyin, also experienced the same issue. Initially, the company did not know of the procedures and was fined because of it. Before Han signed contracts with KBS and SBS, he performed on stage with a mask and a hat to hide his face on screen. Many thought Han was a backup dancer until three months later when his bandmate Heechul finally revealed him to the media by publicly taking off his mask.^[8]

Despite visa restrictions, Han performed with the rest of Super Junior at the 2007 M.NET/KM Music Festival and the 2007 Golden Disk Awards. Both award ceremonies aired on channels that Han was restricted to perform on.^[22]

Lawsuit[link]

On December 21, 2009, Han Geng filed for contract termination from his former company SM Entertainment. The following day, December 22, 2009, Han Geng's lawyer released the reasons for the contract termination: the contract had provisions in SM Entertainment's favor, the 13-year contract length was unlawful, it would take an unfair sum of money to end the contract, he was not allowed to request to revise his contract, he was forced to do things that were not in his contract, he was forced to do things against his will, he was fined if he disobeyed the company, missed any events or was late, and there was unfair profit distribution. Along with this, it was disclosed that because of SM Entertainment's refusal to give him a day off in over two years, he had developed gastritis and kidney disease.^[23]

Han Geng's current manager, Sun Le, also submitted a statement to the Korean courts citing SM Entertainment's violation of Han Geng's rights. This statement was later leaked to the public via the internet. Though many suspected the statement to be fan created, it was later confirmed as legitimate.^[24] Sun Le's statement contended that Han Geng was forced to wear a mask due to SM Entertainment's ill handling of the visa issue, SM Entertainment purposely discriminated against Han Geng and his family, SM Entertainment refused to cooperate or listen to any of Han Geng's suggestions, SM Entertainment purposely turned down individual activities for Han Geng (including Ariel Lin's "Fireflies" music video, which later starred two other Super Junior members) and SM Entertainment treated Han Geng's potential endorsers poorly.^[25]

On 21 December 2010 the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of Han. However a representative of SM Entertainment said that they will file an immediate appeal to reverse the decision^[3] On September 25, 2011, the Seoul Courts announced that they had received a request from Han Geng 's attorney to retract his claim made against SM Entertainment on the 21st.

As of September 27, 2011, Han Geng and SM Entertainment have officially come to a mutual agreement regarding Han Geng's contract, closing the case. Han Geng will not continue his exclusive contract with SME and no longer has any legally binding connection with SME, as stated by Yue Hua Entertainment, Han Geng's current management company. ^[26]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Filmography[link]

Film and Television[link]

Music Video Appearances for Other Artists[link]

Individual Achievements[link]

Music Awards[link]

Acting Awards[link]

See also[link]

• Nanai
• Super Junior
• Super Junior-M

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Han Geng's Official Site
• Han Geng's Weibo
• Han Geng's Baidu Bar Official Site (Chinese)