The Influence of Religion on Writing Systems
This article examines the close historical relationship between religion and the origin, spread, and even disappearance of writing systems. It argues that many early scripts emerged from religious practices such as divination, sorcery, and mythology—for example, China's oracle bone script, born from Shang-dynasty divination rituals, and minority scripts like Dongba, Geba, Shaba, and the Shui script, created by shamans for ritual use. Similar patterns occurred worldwide: Egyptian hieroglyphs ("priestly script"), Mayan writing, Irish Ogham, and early Slavic divinatory symbols all arose within religious contexts, with some scripts vanishing once their associated religions declined. The article then discusses how religion drove the transmission of foreign scripts into China: Buddhism brought Kharoshthi, Tocharian, and Khotanese; Manichaeism introduced Sogdian, later shaping Uyghur script; Islam prompted adoption of Arabic script by Uyghurs; and Buddhism inspired the creation of Tibetan and Dai scripts, illustrating writing's deep dependence on religious and cultural transmission before modern times.
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