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JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXII, No. 3 January 1998
be made simultaneously conscious of the presence of similar literary and cultural materials on other countries of Asia. In fact, a new branch of comparative art, literature and philosophy of the East would develop gradually as the result of the compilation of the new Encyclopedia.
Technical terms in each of the major languages could be written in Roman script and gradually we may evolve a special Pan-Asian script and a common working language for the whole of Asia. Experiment along these lines have already been started by the Soviet Government through their Oriental Institutes embracing the languages and cultures of many oriental nations. With Russian, the Chinese language also have been admitted by the U.N.O. as a major language of the world; and if China, Russia and India co-operate then the work would be satisfactorily accomplished. So far as the nations of Western Asia are concerned Arabic and Persian, supplemented by Hebrew and Turkish, would serve the basis of literary treatment. Much valuable information could be gathered from the dictionaries already compiled in the various Asian languages. The most difficult problem for us would be to tackle with those ancient peoples (our Elder brothers) who have spoken languages but no script and no written literature of their own; and yet their myths and legends, songs and stories would be of great value to the science of Sociology, Ethnology and Anthropology. The historical and archaeological monuments and sites should be shown in genuine photographic reproductions to accompany the articles on such subjects. The humbler arts and crafts of the millions of our rural population, the applied and decorative arts and designs, should be assigned their place of importance and the migration of symbols, motives etc., should be carefully traced. In fact a comparative Dictionary of Oriental Arts and Architecture should be incorporated in this grand Dictionary of Asian Culture. The development of science and industries in India and China, in Iran, Syria, Turkey and other Asian countries should also be traced so as to demonstrate how the East could hold herself against the West down to the Middle ages, as we find while reading the history of the Crusades, the campaigns of the Mongol invaders of Europe and of the Turkish Empire extending over Asia. Africa and Eastern Europe.
Part III
But while confronting the problems of wars and conflicts in the political history of nations, we should emphasize, not with the onesided view of theorists, but with the conviction of our great Eastern Seers like Laotze, Mahavira and Buddha, that Conciliation and not conflict is the basis of normal life and society. The east has been
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