The Ba–Shu scripts are three undeciphered scripts found on bronzeware from the

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian language, Sumerian c ...

kingdoms of Ba and Shu in the

Sichuan Basin The Sichuan Basin (), formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributa ...

of southwestern China in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Numerous signature seals have been found in Ba–Shu graves, suggesting that the states used written records, though none have been found. The known inscriptions are too few to be deciphered, or even to identify the language recorded.

Scripts

The first script consists of

pictograph A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and gr ...

ic symbols decorating weapons found in Ba graves in eastern Sichuan. About two hundred individual symbols have been identified. The most common depict human faces, hands and figures, tigers, turtles, dragons, flowers, birds and cicadas. There are also some abstract forms. The longest inscription, on a lacquer tray found near

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

, consists of 11 symbols. The second script is found in both western and eastern Sichuan, on five halberd blades, a belt buckle and the base of a bronze vessel. Some scholars believe this script to be

phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

, pointing to similarities between some of the symbols and symbols of the later

Yi script The Yi script (Yi: ; ) is an umbrella term for two scripts used to write the Yi languages; Classical Yi (an ideogram script), and the later Yi Syllabary. The script is historically known in Chinese as ''Cuan Wen'' () or ''Wei Shu'' () and vari ...

. Except for one symbol resembling the Chinese character 王 ("king"), the symbols cannot be connected with

Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

, or with the earlier pictographic script. The third script is known from a single sample, an inscription on the lid of a bronze vessel found in a grave in Baihuatan,

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

dating from c. 476 BC. It may also be phonetic.

Gallery

; Scripts File:Ba-Shu scripts (anthropomorphic symbols).png, Scripts resembling human forms File:Ba-Shu scripts (resembling animals).png, Scripts resembling animals File:Ba-Shu scripts (resembling plants).png, Scripts resembling plants File:Ba-Shu scripts (resembling everyday objects).png, Scripts resembling everyday objects File:Ba-Shu scripts (resembling architectural elements).png, Scripts resembling architectural elements File:Ba-Shu scripts (geometric symbols) 1.png, Scripts using geometric shapes File:Ba-Shu scripts (geometric symbols) 2.png, Scripts using geometric shapes File:Ba-Shu scripts (geometric symbols) 3.png, Scripts using geometric shapes File:Ba-Shu scripts (geometric symbols) 4.png, Scripts using geometric shapes File:Ba-Shu scripts (geometric symbols) 5.png, Scripts using geometric shapes ; Artefacts File:Mao spearhead with Ba symbols.jpg, Spearhead with pictographic Ba symbols File:四川省博物院館藏文物_008.jpg File:四川省博物院館藏文物_009.jpg File:四川省博物院館藏文物_010.jpg File:四川省博物院館藏文物_011.jpg File:四川省博物院館藏文物_012.jpg File:四川省博物院館藏文物_013.jpg File:四川省博物院館藏文物_014.jpg File:四川省博物院館藏文物_015.jpg File:四川省博物院館藏文物_016.jpg File:四川省博物院館藏文物_017.jpg File:四川省博物院館藏文物_018.jpg

References

Works cited * * *

External links

Rhinoceros-form Ba–Shu seal
Christies sale 2509, lot 899.
Ram-form Ba–Shu seal
Christies sale 2509, lot 898.
Square Ba–Shu seal

City University of Hong Kong. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ba-Shu scripts Ba–Shu culture History of Sichuan Undeciphered writing systems Shu (state)

Scripts

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links