Proposal to Encode the Phags-pa Script Part One: A Brief Account of the Phags-pa Script

(1) The Phags-pa script was invented by a special edict of Khubilai Khan, Emperor Shi Zu of the Yuan Dynasty and in 1269 the Emperor issued another edict to implement this script across the country. In certain places, Phags-pa Script was used as late as the early Ming Dynasty (Northern Yuan). The Phags-pa script is a set of phonetic symbols for multi-lingual writing that can be used to "translate and write " all languages. According to materials so far discovered, Phags-pa script has been used to “translate and write ” Mongolian, Chinese (Han), Tibetan, Uighur as well as Sanskrit, and other languages yet to be deciphered. Needless to say, of the above-mentioned languages, Mongolian as the national language of Yuan Dynasty, and Chinese as the language widely used by so many ethnic groups in China, are the two major languages for which Phags-pa script has been used. (2) As a special system of letters for "translating & writing " all languages, Phags-pa script is characterized by some striking features. In “translating / writing ” languages of different ethnic groups, Phags-pa script uses different numbers of letters which differ in pronunciation and spelling. In “translating / writing ” Mongolian and Chinese, these two languages are transcribed, i,e., spelt according to their sounds, whereas in “translating / writing ” Tibeta