Phags-pa

Created by Tibetan monk Phags-pa at Kublai Khan's command in 1269 — an ambitious project to write all languages of the Mongol Empire in one script. Written top-to-bottom, it appeared on Yuan dynasty banknotes, seals, and official documents. It declined rapidly after Kublai's death, but provides invaluable data for Korean, Japanese, and Chinese linguistic research. The most detailed surviving records of medieval Chinese pronunciation are preserved in Phags-pa script.