| Khitan large script | |
|---|---|
 Memorial for Yelü Yanning dated 986 | |
| Script type | |
| Direction | Top-to-bottom and right-to-left |
| Languages | Khitan language |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | Oracle bone script
|
Child systems | Jurchen script |
Sister systems | Simplified Chinese, Tangut script, Kanji, Hanja, Chữ Hán, Zhuyin |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Kitl (505), Khitan large script |
The Khitan large script (Chinese: 契丹大字; pinyin: qìdān dàzì) was one of two writing systems used for the now-extinct Khitan language (the other was the Khitan small script). It was used during the 10th–12th centuries by the Khitan people, who had created the Liao Empire in north-eastern China. In addition to the large script, the Khitans simultaneously also used a functionally independent writing system known as the Khitan small script. Both Khitan scripts continued to be in use to some extent by the Jurchens for several decades after the fall of the Liao dynasty, until the Jurchens fully switched to a script of their own. Examples of the scripts appeared most often on epitaphs and monuments, although other fragments sometimes surface.