Sawndip

Sawndip is the traditional writing system used by the Zhuang people to write the Zhuang language. It relies on a combination of Chinese characters used for their meaning and a large inventory of locally invented characters created to represent Zhuang words and morphemes. There is no single standardized orthography; scribes select characters to convey pronunciation and sense, resulting in a script with thousands of characters and many regionally variable practices.

Origins and use: Sawndip has a long history dating to the medieval period and continued into the early modern era. It has been employed for a wide range of texts, including folk songs, poetry, religious and ritual writings, genealogies, proverbs, and local records. In Guangxi and adjacent areas, it functioned as a practical script for recording Zhuang language before the adoption of modern alphabets.

Relation to contemporary writing: Since the mid-20th century, Zhuang has also been written in a Latin-based alphabet officially adopted by the Chinese government. That standardized script is used in education and formal communication, while Sawndip remains important for cultural preservation, traditional literature, and religious practice. Scholars study Sawndip to understand Zhuang dialectology, regional literature, and historical texts.

Name and meaning: The term Sawndip is the Zhuang name for this script and is commonly interpreted as 'old writing' or 'old characters,' distinguishing it from the newer Latin orthography.