page_title: Stephen Wootton Bushell
section_title: 'Phags-pa
hierarchical_section_title: Stephen Wootton Bushell / Study of ancient scripts / 'Phags-pa
caption_attribution_description: English: Across the top of the page are Old Mandarin syllables (disregarding tone) tsim, tshim, sim, zim, shim, zhim, ·im, xim, yim and lim, each written vertically in 'Phags-pa script. Beneath each syllable is a list of characters with that pronunciation, grouped by tone (平, 上, 去 and 入).
context_page_description: Stephen Wootton Bushell CMG MD was an English physician and amateur Orientalist who made important contributions to the study of Chinese ceramics, Chinese coins and the decipherment of the Tangut script.
context_section_description: Although he did not actually publish anything relating to the 'Phags-pa script, during his time in China (probably on his 1872 trip to Inner Mongolia) he acquired the only extant manuscript copy of the early 14th century rhyming dictionary of Chinese written in the 'Phags-pa script (Menggu Ziyun 蒙古字韻), which was sold to the British Museum by his widow in April 1909. This is the only surviving example of a dictionary written in the 'Phags-pa script, and is the single most important source for studying how Chinese was written in the 'Phags-pa script during the Yuan dynasty. This manuscript is now held at the British Library (callmark Or. 6972).
caption: Page from the Chinese 'Phags-pa rhyming dictionary manuscript owned by Bushell
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