Nu Shu

Fascinating tidbit from the article on Nu Shu:

"The penalty for creating new languages was death for the
transgressor, their family and nine related families. "

(This refers to Imperial China, though no more details than that are
given as to time period, and who it was who was going to exact such a
punishment.  We find out in the article that Nu Shu was not exactly
embraced with open arms by Maoism either, as it looked a bit too much
like a spies' code for comfort -- and besides, it was a bit of old
Chinese culture, and therefore to be rooted out and destroyed in the
name of the Revolution.)

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                       edheil@postmark.net
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