The 'Chinese' Theory: For and Against

[Jorge_Stolfi]

Why would anyone create a “phonetic transcription” and make everything even more complicated when using the Latin alphabet is—or seems to be—much simpler?

For the same reason that Europeans who needed to write down speeches, interviews, court statements, and dictation did not use Latin letters: because they take too long to write.  Those scribes developed systems of shorthand that would let them write down words as fast as they were spoken.

One notable feature of Voynichese glyphs is that most can be written with only one or two simple pen strokes.  The e and i are one stroke each; Ch, d, r, l, y, o, a, s, k, t, p, f are all two strokes each.  Sh is three, and CTh is four.  It definitely seems to have been designed for fast writing.

And why don’t I see any references, such as a zodiac sign or a temple, on the Rosette page?

You should ask that to the proponents of the European Origin theory. Why aren't there any centaurs, churches, angels, saints with halos and blessing hands, kings on thrones, rabbits killing knights, ...

My guess (based only on the numbers and layout) is that the Zodiac section is a copy of some Chinese book that described the 24 solar terms, each with a list of 15 names of unknown "things"; with the nymphs etc. being just decoration provided by the Scribe (like all the illustrations on European depictions of the Zodiac).  That section does not seem to make sense under the European Origin theory.

The Bio section could be a copy of a Chinese book of anatomy and/or medical theory. The water in pipes could then be the vital energy/fluid 气 qì (or other theoretical fluids, like yin and yang) flowing through the various organs.  Again, it does not seem to be the sort of anatomical/medical book that would be created in Europe in the 1400s.  (Were there any at all?)

Marco Polo’s descriptions are of structures that still exist today. Here, I see nothing.

 

The Starred Parags section is a materia medica, a list of remedies and their indications. Nothing to do with buildings. 

I don't know which books the other sections were copied from.  I don't know what was the source of the big fold-out, and how much of it comes from that source as opposed to from the Author's or the Artist's imagination.  How do you know which details are significant, and which are just decoration?

All the best, --stolfi