The list of Khitan inscriptions comprises a list of the corpus of known inscriptions written in the

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 nor ...

and the

Khitan small script The Khitan small script () was one of two writing systems used for the now-extinct Khitan language (the other was the Khitan large script). It was used during the 10th–12th century by the Khitan people, who had created the Liao Empire in present- ...

. These two

scripts Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...

were used by the

Khitan people The Khitan people (Khitan small script: ; ) were a historical 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 desce ...

in northern China during the 10th through 12th centuries for writing the extinct

Khitan language Khitan or Kitan ( in large script or in small, ''Khitai''; , ''Qìdānyǔ''), also known as Liao, is a now-extinct language once spoken in Northeast Asia by the Khitan people (4th to 13th century). It was the official language of the Liao Empir ...

. The Khitan language was in use during the

Liao dynasty The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...

(916–1125), the Western Liao dynasty (1124–1218) and the Jin dynasty (1115–1234), but the last recorded Khitan speaker,

Yelü Chucai Yelü Chucai (; mn, Urtu Saqaltu "Longbeard", written in Chinese characters as "", July 24, 1190 – June 20, 1244), courtesy name Jinqing (), was a Khitan statesman from the imperial clan of the Liao dynasty, who became a vigorous adviser and ...

, 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 partially deciphered. The main source of Khitan texts are monumental inscriptions, mostly comprising memorial tablets buried in the tombs of Khitan nobility. Only one monument in a Khitan script was known before the 20th century, the ''Record of the Younger Brother of the Emperor of the Great Jin Dynasty'' (''Langjun xingji'' 郎君行記), which has stood in front of the tomb of

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...

since at least 1618. Until the 1920s it was believed to be written in the

Jurchen script The Jurchen script (Jurchen: ) was the writing system used to write the Jurchen language, the language of the Jurchen people who created the Jin Empire in northeastern China in the 12th–13th centuries. It was derived from the Khitan script, ...

. Only after the discovery of the memorial tablets of the

Emperor Xingzong of Liao Emperor Xingzong of Liao (3 April 1016 – 28 August 1055), personal name Zhigu, sinicised name Yelü Zongzhen, was the seventh emperor of the Khitan-led Liao dynasty of China. Life Yelü Zongzhen was the eldest son of Emperor Shengzong. He was ...

and his consort was it realized that the ''Record of the Younger Brother of the Emperor'' and the Liao-dynasty memorial tablets were both written in a Khitan script. Several more memorial tablets in the same script were discovered during the 1930s, including memorials for the

Emperor Daozong of Liao Emperor Daozong of Liao (14 September 1032 – 12 February 1101), personal name Chala, Sinicization, sinicised name Yelü Hongji, was the eighth Emperor of China, emperor of the Khitan people, Khitan-led Liao dynasty of China. Life Emperor Dao ...

and his consort. Initially it was not clear whether the script inscribed on these memorial tablets was the Khitan large script, recorded to have been devised in 920, or the Khitan small script, recorded to have been devised about 925. A different, unknown script, which appeared more similar to Chinese (incorporating many

characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

borrowed directly from Chinese), had been discovered on a temple monument in 1935, as well as on a memorial to Xiao Xiaozhong in 1951; and in 1962 Jin Guangping suggested that these two monuments were written using the Khitan large script, and that the ''Record of the Younger Brother of the Emperor'' and the imperial memorial tablets were written using the Khitan small script. This identification of the two Khitan scripts is now widely accepted. There are about 15 known monuments with inscriptions in the Khitan large script, ranging in date from 986 to 1176, and about 40 known monuments with inscriptions in the Khitan small script, ranging in date from 1053 to 1171. The two scripts are mutually exclusive (never occurring together on the same monument), but it is not known why the Khitan people used two different scripts, or what determined the choice of which script to use. In addition to monumental inscriptions, short inscriptions in both Khitan scripts have also been found on tomb murals and rock paintings, and on various portable artefacts such as mirrors, amulets,

paiza A paiza or paizi or gerege ( xng, Гэрэгэ, mn, Пайз, fa, پایزه ''pāiza'', ''páizi'') was a tablet carried by Mongol officials and envoys to signify certain privileges and authority. They enabled Mongol nobles and officials to dem ...

(tablets of authority given to officials and envoys), and special non-circulation coins. A number of bronze official

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

with the seal face inscribed in the Khitan large script are also known. The Khitan characters on these seals are engraved in a convoluted calligraphic style that imitates the Chinese "nine-fold"

seal script Seal script, also sigillary script () is an ancient style of writing Chinese characters that was common throughout the latter half of the 1st millennium BC. It evolved organically out of the Zhou dynasty bronze script. The Qin variant of seal ...

style of calligraphy.

Monumental inscriptions in the Khitan large script

Other inscriptions in the Khitan large script

Khitan large script seals

Monumental inscriptions in the Khitan small script

Other inscriptions in the Khitan small script

Khitan small script seals

Notes

Footnotes

References

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External links

{{Wikisourcelang, , Main Page/Khitan, Khitan language texts Khitan inscriptions Khitan inscriptions *