Writing
Writing (lekhana) is the representing of words by a system of symbols called a script (lekhā).
Nearly all the scripts of Template:Wiki countries – Template:Wiki, Burmese, Thai, Template:Wiki (until its replacement by Template:Wiki and then Template:Wiki), Template:Wiki, Tibetan, etc. evolved from scripts which had been brought from India by either Indian Template:Wiki or Buddhist monks.
The same was true of many central Template:Wiki scripts until the coming of Template:Wiki.
And the oldest examples of writing from all these regions pertain to Buddhism.
The most ancient decipherable documents from India are the Template:Wiki of the Buddhist Template:Wiki Aśoka.
The earliest example of writing from the Template:Wiki is a small metal plate with the dependent origination formula inscribed on it.
Until the colonial Template:Wiki, most education in Buddhist lands was in the hands of monks.
In Sri Lanka, many village monasteries had schools where boys were taught to read and write which meant that there was a high literacy rate amongst Template:Wiki of all classes.
In other Buddhist lands, literacy was mainly confined to the upper class.
After the Dhamma itself, writing and everything that follows from it – Template:Wiki, Template:Wiki, Template:Wiki, education and the transmission of knowledge – has been Buddhism’s greatest gift to the world.