{"id":148,"date":"2013-07-13T01:26:13","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=148"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:26:13","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:26:13","slug":"53-different-methods-of-writing-vol-16-the-supramental-manifestation-volume-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/01-sabcl\/16-the-supramental-manifestation-volume-16\/53-different-methods-of-writing-vol-16-the-supramental-manifestation-volume-16","title":{"rendered":"-53_Different Methods of Writing.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n


\nDifferent
\nMethods of Writing<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\nWhat
\nis the origin of the different methods of writing,<\/span> <\/i>–
\n<\/span>from right to left, from left
\nto right or, like the Chinese, vertically?<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n


\n               
\n<\/span><\/span>            T<\/span><\/b>HE
\nquestion is one of great interest but impossible to solve definitely for lack of
\nsubstantial data. All one can do is to speculate on the most probable and
\nsatisfying explanation.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n


\n     <\/span>In the first
\nplace, it is evident that these differences are no mere accident nor the result
\nof some trivial and local cause; for they coincide with great cultural divisions
\nof humanity belonging to prehistoric times. It is the races called Aryan from
\ntheir common original culture whose script is directed from left to right; the
\nMesopotamian races deriving their culture from the Chaldeans proceed from right
\nto left; the Mongolians write vertically.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n


\n     <\/span>In the second
\nplace no explanation is possible if we adopt the. view that writing is a
\ncomparatively recent invention in the history of the human race and borrowed by
\nall the ancient nations from a common source, – a derivation, let us say, from
\nEgyptian hieroglyphs popularised and spread broadcast over earth by the
\ncommercial activities of Phoenician traders. We must suppose on the contrary
\nthat these differences were developed at a very early time while the great
\ncultures were in their formation and before the dispersal of the races
\nrepresenting them.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n


\n     <\/span>Undoubtedly, the
\ngeneral use of writing is a late development in the history of the present cycle
\nof civilisation. And to this retardation two causes contributed, at first, the
\nabsence of a simple and easy system and, afterwards, the absence of a simple,
\ncommon, but handy and durable material. While this state of things endured,
\nwriting would not be used for daily and ordinary purposes, but only in
\nconnection with great religious ceremonies or, where culture was materially more
\nadvanced,<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage-406<\/font><\/span>
\n 
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

for the preservation of important records or of treasured and sacred
\nknowledge.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n


\n     <\/span>It is,
\ntherefore, in some circumstance intimately connected with religious ideas and
\npractices that we must look for the explanation we are seeking; and it should be
\na circumstance common to all these cultures, yet capable of leading to so
\nstriking a difference.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n


\n     <\/span>The one
\nimportant circumstance common, one might almost say central, to the ideas and
\npractices of the ancient nations was the reverence for the sun and its supreme
\nimportance in religious ceremonies. Might not the direction adopted for their
\nwriting be determined by some difference in their attitude towards the direction
\nof the sun in its daily movement from east to west?
\n     <\/span>The difference
\nof attitude can only be explained if we suppose that for some reason. the Aryan
\nforefathers had their faces turned southwards, the Mesopotamian northwards and
\nthe Mongolian eastwards. In that case, the sun for the Aryans would move from
\ntheir left to their right, for the Mesopotamians from their right to their left,
\nfor the Mongolians straight towards them, and this difference would be
\nrepresented by the movement of the hand tracing the sacred symbols on some hard
\nflat surface, of stone or other material used for these early scripts.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n


\n     <\/span>But what
\ncircumstance, again, could lead to this difference? We can only think of one,<\/span>
\n–<\/span> that this tendency might have been formed during the constant migration
\nof these races from their original habitat. If we accept Mr. Tilak’s theory of
\nan Aryan migration from the Arctic regions southwards towards India,<\/span>
\nPersia and the Mediterranean countries; if we can suppose that the fathers
\nof the Mesopotamian culture came from the south. northwards and that the first
\nMongolian movement was from Central Asia to the East, we shall have the
\nnecessary conditions. We may thus explain also the Sanskrit terms for the four
\ndirections; for entering India from the West and following this line in their
\nearly colonisation, the east would be in front of the Aryans, purva, <\/i>the
\nWest behind, pascima, <\/i>the South on their right, daksina, <\/i>while the
\nname for the north, uttara, <\/i>higher, might possibly indicate a memory of
\ntheir old northern home in that supreme point of the<\/span><\/p>\n

\nPage-407<\/font><\/span>
\n 
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n


\nearth where they still placed the sacred mountain of their gods.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

 
\n     <\/span>Necessarily,
\nthis explanation is in the highest degree conjectural and depends on pure
\nintellectual reasoning which is an unsafe guide in the absence of solid and
\nsufficient data. Nevertheless, it is the one positive explanation that suggests
\nitself to us and, as a hypothesis, is well worth taking into consideration.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPage-408<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Different Methods of Writing   What is the origin of the different methods of writing, – from right to left, from left to right or,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-16-the-supramental-manifestation-volume-16","wpcat-5-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}