Editing Uchen script (section)

== Key influences ==
[[File:Sumero-Akkadian_cuneiform_syllabary.jpg|thumb|Sumero-Akkadian cuneiform syllabary]]
The written languages of Asia had heavy influence on Uchen script in its creation, its style and its function. Due to the Uchen script being a [[Brahmi script]], a written script developed between in the 7th and 8th century,<ref name=":2" /> Uchen has many influences from surrounding areas and groups of people at the time. As Tibet was a new empire, the king, [[Songtsen Gampo]], endeavoured to establish Tibet as a major power. He commissioned [[Thonmi Sambhota]] to create a script for Tibet and Bhutan, and in doing so wished to emulate the power of surrounding successful nations like India.<ref name=":0" /> India already had an established and successfully implemented written script. This  allowed for India to be able to secure internal events and unification, as well as develop foreign relations and trade. Songtsen Gampo wanted his nation of Tibet to gain the same success as India. Thus, in commissioning Thonmi Sambhota to create a written script, he wanted the script to resemble Indian scripts. Thonmi Sambhota was sent to study scriptwriting under the guidance of expert Indian scribes.<ref name=":0" /> The creation of Uchen script therefore shares certain stylistic and aesthetic similarities to Brahami Indian scripts. One such similarity is the elongated lower section of characters.

Written language and written scripts in general can be said to have their roots in texts written in what is now called the [[Middle East]], which encompasses parts of Western Asia. One such written language that emerged from West Asia is Sumerian [[Cuneiform]], the earliest documented writing system, which has been dated by historians to be from the Bronze Age.<ref name=":4" /> it is stylistically basic, using simple lines to create semi-realistic images to record language, such as depictions of animals. This use of lines eventually developed away from realistic drawings into symbols and alphabets that utilized a more abstract use of lines to represent meanings. Thus, Sumerian Cuneiform was the basis in which written language developed, and it influenced the Uchen script in its use of lines and abstract shapes that can be deciphered into words.

Some of the proceeding earliest written scripts developed some time after Sumerian cuneiform are scripts attributed to [[Old Chinese]]. These scripts have been recorded on stone and marble and are written in Old Chinese. These scripts were less pictographic and more abstract in their depiction of the languages through letters and lines.<ref name=":4">{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=William S. -Y. |title=The Chinese Language |journal=Scientific American |date=1 February 1973 |volume=228 |issue=2 |pages=50–60 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0273-50 |bibcode=1973SciAm.228b..50W |jstor=24922980 }}</ref> Old Chinese writing was used to record poetry and important historical events. Uchen mirrors this use of alphabet in similarly being a tool for recording culturally significant stories poems and events, whilst using less pictographic letters.