Yi syllable ndox

It represents one syllable; the surrounding word gives it meaning. Traditional Yi writing used idea-signs in many local forms. One tradition credits Aki with devising the script during the Tang dynasty; the oldest surviving inscription is a bronze bell dated 1485. Until modern times, village bimo (religious specialists) passed down ritual, medical, genealogical, and historical texts. The standardized Liangshan syllabary derives from older Yi signs; it was standardized in 1974 and promulgated in 1980. Those signs appear not to derive from Han characters.