The 'Chinese' Theory: For and Against

[Oscroft]

Why did the Author invent a new script

Ignorant newcomer here, but how do we know it was a new invention by a single author? Couldn't it have been a known method of keeping writings secret among a group of academics (at a time when religious persecution might have made that very desirable)? How many manuscripts from those times have survived, 5% or fewer? Doesn't that mean we should be very careful with assumptions like these?