Editing Jurchen people (section)

==Language==
The early [[Jurchen script]] was invented in 1120 by [[Wanyan Xiyin]], acting on the orders of [[Emperor Taizu of Jin|Wanyan Aguda]]. It was based on the [[Khitan small script|Khitan script]] that was inspired in turn by [[Chinese character]]s. The written Jurchen language died out soon after the fall of the Jin dynasty. The Translators' Bureau of the Ming tributary bureaucracy received a communication from the Jurchens in 1444 stating that nobody among them understood the Jurchen script, so all letters sent to them should be written in [[Mongolian script|Mongolian]].{{sfn|Crossley|1997|p=38}}

Until the end of the 16th century, when [[Manchu language|Manchu]] became the new literary language, the Jurchens used a combination of Mongolian and Chinese. The pioneering work on studies of the Jurchen script was done by [[Wilhelm Grube]] at the end of the 19th century.