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OTHER IDEOGRAPHIC SCRIPTS
143 but many of them seem to be phonetic. There are a few local varieties (Fig. 71, 2), of which there are two main groups, according to the direction of writing; the independent tribes of Ta Liang-shan (in Sze-chwan) still employ a horizontal script, from right to left (Fig. 71,1); while the other tribes use mainly the vertical script in columns running from left to right (Fig. 72). Very little is known of the early development of this script. An inscription of Tsan-tsin-gay, near Lu-ch'uan-hsien, is attributed to A.D. 1533
Fig. 72-Lo-lo vertical script
Prof. T. de Lacouperie considered the Lo-lo script as a link connecting the various systems of India, Indonesia, Indo-China with those of Korea and Japan, but there are no proofs corroborating such theory. Fig. 73,2 gives a specimen of a Lo-lo printed book, edited by Prince Len.
Mo-so Script
The Mo-so script also offers many open problems. Nobody knows when and how the script originated. According to Pere Desgodins, the discoverer of the script in the middle of the last century, the writing
