Dead language of Asia, with 6,133 letters, deciphered

Title

Language

English

Year

1961

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

DEAD LANGUAGE OF ASIA, WITH 6,133 LETTERS, DECIPHERED On the main route connect ing China and Tibet, there was an influential minority race called Tanghut when the Sung dynasty ruled China. The Tanghut founded a king dom in 1032 covering ten pro vinces including present Kan su and Shensi, and was known for its own advanced culture under the influence of both the Chinese and Tibetan cul tures, as well as Confucian ism and Buddhism. This sizable kingdom used its own languages, which was composed of 6,133 letters and used in the area even for the 100 years after the kingdom fell to Genghis Khan in 1227. It then was abandoned to obscurity for several centu ries. WORLD'S FASTEST LENS A camera with the world’s fastest lens, 50-mm, f 0.95, which is supposed to be four times faster than the human eye, has been put on the mar ket by the Canon Camera Company, Tokyo, one of the leading camera makers in Ja pan. This new camera is equip ped with built-in exposure It was in 1870 that this uni que language, dead for over 500 years, was introduced to the world by Alexander Wy lie, a British scholar in Oriental studies, as the Nuchen (Jurchin) language, and 27 years later, by Jean Deveria, a French philologist. However, they failed to de cipher the meaning of the let ters, which were complicated in structure and irregular in grammar as well as pronun ciation. But after years of laborious studies conducted by Assis tant Professor Tatsuo Nishida of Kyoto University, Kyoto, who traced it with the aid of both Tibetan and Chinese do cuments, this extremely com(Continued on page 78) * meter together with a shutter dial and range finder. A sharp focus can be made at any dis tance, even at the maximum opening of f 0.95 in which the depth of field is extremely shallow. Among the high-class focalplain types of camera, it is the first to be equipped with such a built-in exposure me ter. 74 Panorama . So far as the stories of Ja panese bridges go, one of the best known bridges in Japan is the Nihonbashi (Japan bridge), which was the start ing point of Tokaido (TokyoKyoto road) in olden days and today is the center of down town Tokyo. The history of this bridge tells of the history of bridge construction in the country. Originally a wooden bridge, it is now a steel and concrete structure beautifully decorated with bronze orna ments. “Oedo Nihonbashi” (Nihonbashi of the flowery RESEARCH... (Continued from page 46) attended another meeting of historians of Asia in Singa pore early this year. These conferences are only in addition to others more nu merous which have been held under the sponsorship of Unesco and other United Na tions. agencies, or organiza tions affiliated with it, on the national, regional, or inter-re gional levels. Their specific mention is only an illustra tion of the efforts of men of capital of Edo), as it is called in folk songs, has been rebuilt several times, recruiting the latest engineering skill of the period. There are 126,700 bridges in Japan, with a total length of 16,720,000 kilometers. They represent the tradition of old Japanese culture and the af fection the people entertain for time-honored architectu ral beauty. But large wooden bridges are gradually bowing out of public view, with the rapidly increasing availability of steel and concrete. DEAD LANGUAGE ... (Continued from page 74) plicated language has recent ly been deciphered. As a re sult, it is expected that stu dies on Hsi-Hsia will be ad vanced in the future, parti cularly in the field of EastWest contact through Central Asia in the Middle Ages. goodwill from all lands to wards greater mutual under standing among them through education. ♦ ♦ ♦ One Lady—Why do you want to get divorced? Another—Because Pm married. 78 Panorama

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