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Khitan Scripts
Khitan scripts may refer to one of two mutually exclusive scripts used by the Khitan people during the 10th–12th centuries: *Khitan small script, invented in about 924 or 925 CE by a scholar named Diela *Khitan large script The Khitan large script () was one of two writing systems used for the now-extinct Khitan language (the other was the Khitan small script). It was used during the 10th–12th centuries by the Khitan people, who had created the Liao Empire in no ..., introduced in 920 CE by Abaoji, founder of the Liao Dynasty See also * Khitan (other) * List of Khitan inscriptions {{disambiguation Undeciphered writing systems ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Writing System
A writing system comprises a set of symbols, called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which the script represents a particular language. The earliest writing appeared during the late 4th millennium BC. Throughout history, each independently invented writing system gradually emerged from a system of proto-writing, where a small number of ideographs were used in a manner incapable of fully encoding language, and thus lacking the ability to express a broad range of ideas. Writing systems are generally classified according to how its symbols, called ''graphemes'', relate to units of language. Phonetic writing systemswhich include alphabets and syllabariesuse graphemes that correspond to sounds in the corresponding spoken language. Alphabets use graphemes called ''letter (alphabet), letters'' that generally correspond to spoken phonemes. They are typically divided into three sub-types: ''Pure alphabets'' use letters to represent both consonant and vowel sounds, ''abjads'' gene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khitan People
The Khitan people (Khitan small script: ; ) were a historical Eurasian nomads, nomadic people from Northeast Asia who, from the 4th century, inhabited an area corresponding to parts of modern Mongolia, Northeast China and the Russian Far East. As a people descended from the proto-Mongols through the Xianbei, Khitans spoke the now-extinct Khitan language, a Para-Mongolic languages, Para-Mongolic language related to the Mongolic languages. The Khitan people founded and led the Liao dynasty (916–1125), which dominated a vast area of Siberia, Mongolia and Northern China. The Khitans of the Liao dynasty used two independent writing systems for their language: Khitan small script and Khitan large script. After the fall of the Liao dynasty in 1125 following the Jin dynasty (1115–1234)#Rise of the Jin and fall of the Liao, Jurchen invasion, many Khitans followed Yelü Dashi's group westward to establish the Qara Khitai or Western Liao dynasty, in Central Asia, which lasted nearly a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khitan Small Script
The Khitan small script () was one of two writing systems used for the now-extinct Khitan language. It was used during the 10th–12th century by the Khitan people, who had created the Liao Empire in present-day northeastern China. In addition to the small script, the Khitans simultaneously also used a functionally independent writing system known as the Khitan large script. Both Khitan scripts continued to be in use to some extent by the Jurchens for several decades after the fall of the Liao dynasty, until the Jurchens fully switched to a script of their own. Examples of the scripts appeared most often on epitaphs and monuments, although other fragments sometimes surface. History The Khitan small script was invented in about 924 or 925 CE by a scholar named Yelü Diela. He drew his inspiration from "the Uyghur language and script", which he was shown by a visiting Uyghur ambassador at the Khitan court. For this reason, Khitan small script was originally thought to be a daughter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khitan Large Script
The Khitan large script () was one of two writing systems used for the now-extinct Khitan language (the other was the Khitan small script). It was used during the 10th–12th centuries by the Khitan people, who had created the Liao Empire in north-eastern China. In addition to the large script, the Khitans simultaneously also used a functionally independent writing system known as the Khitan small script. Both Khitan scripts continued to be in use to some extent by the Jurchens for several decades after the fall of the Liao dynasty, until the Jurchens fully switched to a script of their own. Examples of the scripts appeared most often on epitaphs and monuments, although other fragments sometimes surface. History Abaoji of the Yelü clan, founder of the Khitan, or Liao, dynasty, introduced the original Khitan script in 920 CE. The "large script", or "big characters" (), as it was referred to in some Chinese sources, was established to keep the record of the new Khitan state ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khitan (other)
Khitan or Khitai may refer to: *Khitan (circumcision), the Islamic circumcision rite *Khitan people, an ancient nomadic people located in Mongolia and northern China * Liao dynasty (916–1125), a dynasty of China ruled by the Khitan Yelü clan **Northern Liao (1122–1123), a regime in northern China **Qara Khitai (1124–1218), alternatively called the "Western Liao", successor to the Liao dynasty in northwestern China and Central Asia **Eastern Liao (1213–1269), a regime in northeastern China **Later Liao (1216–1219), a regime in northeastern China *Khitan language, a now-extinct language once spoken by the Khitan people *Khitan scripts (other), writing systems of the Khitan people, for the now-extinct Khitan language **Khitan large script, a logographic writing system **Khitan small script, a semi-syllabic and logographic writing system *Cathay Cathay ( ) is a historical name for China that was used in Europe. During the early modern period, the term ''Cathay'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Khitan Inscriptions
The list of Khitan inscriptions comprises a list of the corpus of known inscriptions written in the Khitan large script and the Khitan small script. These two scripts were used by the Khitan people in northern China during the 10th through 12th centuries for writing the extinct Khitan language. The Khitan language was in use during the Liao dynasty (916–1125), the Western Liao dynasty (1124–1218) and the Jin dynasty (1115–1234), but the last recorded Khitan speaker, Yelü Chucai, died in 1243, and the language probably became extinct soon afterwards. There are no surviving examples of printed texts in the Khitan language, and aside from five example Khitan large characters with Chinese glosses in a book on calligraphy, ''Shūshǐ Huìyào'' (書史會要), written by Tao Zongyi (陶宗儀) in the mid 14th century, there are no Chinese glossaries or dictionaries of Khitan. The Khitan language is therefore little understood, and the two Khitan writing systems are only parti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
