Editing Scribe (section)

== South Asia ==
<!--[[File:BKK Wat Rakhang Ho Trai.jpg|thumb|Library ''([[ho trai]])'' of [[Wat Rakhang]], a [[Thai Buddhist]] temple complex in [[Bangkok]], built on stilts to protect the Tipiṭaka (scriptures)]]-->
The Buddhist [[Tripiṭaka]] emerged at the beginning of the first century. Buddhist texts were treasured and sacred throughout Asia and were written in different languages. Buddhist scribes believed that, “The act of copying them could bring a scribe closer to perfection and earn him merit.”<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lyons |first=Martyn |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/857089276 |title=Books: a living history |date=2013 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-29115-3 |location=London |pages=33 |oclc=857089276}}</ref>

Rather later, Hindu texts were written, although the most sacred, especially the [[Veda]]s, were [[Vedas#Chronology, transmission, and interpretation|not written down until much later]], and were learnt by heart by the priestly [[Brahmin]]s. Writing in the several scripts of [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indic languages]] was generally not regarded as a distinct artistic form, in a situation similar to Europe, but different from East Asian traditions of [[calligraphy]].