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Ancient Naxi Dongba literature manuscripts

Inscribed 2003

What are they

The collection contains 1000 volumes on a variety of subjects dating from c.AD 30 to the Tang dynasty (618–907) in a pictographic script using more than 2000 characters. It is the only surviving script of its type in the world.

Why were they inscribed

These documents represent a unique form of script and written culture which represent an important part of the heritage of mankind.

Where are they

Dongba Culture Research Institute, Lijang county, Yunnan, China

The Naxi people are the descendants of the ancient Qiang tribe, who inhabited the Huang He and Huang Shui valleys in northwest China. After constant nomadic migration, the early Naxi finally settled down in eastern and western areas along the upper reaches of the Jinsha river. Today approximately 300,000 Naxi live at the junction of Yunnan province, Sichuan province and the Tibet autonomous region.

Despite the extremely difficult environmental conditions and the lack of material wealth, the Naxi still managed to create a unique and distinctive ethnic culture. As a consequence of being handed down through a religion whose priests were called ‘Dongbas’, this ancient culture acquired the name of ‘Dongba culture’. Thus, all the pictographic characters, scriptures, ritual dancing, artworks and utensils related to this culture are prefixed by the word ‘Dongba’. What is a continual surprise to many people and what makes this culture remarkable is the fact that the Naxi ancestors were able to create a system of writing with more than 2000 characters, using a particular pictographic script to write down their customs and scriptures. The scripts for writing the ancient Dongba literature are of great value for studies of the origin and development of written languages. It holds an irreplaceable position in the history of the development of the written languages, and is more primitive than the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang dynasty. It is the only surviving script of this type in the world.

The collection records all the aspects of the Dongba culture, ranging from the creation of the world through philosophy, economics, military affairs, culture, astronomy and farming to the social life of the Naxi people, and is an encyclopedia of their ancient society; it also covers every aspect of their religious rituals including praying for blessings, sacrificial offerings for exorcising evils, funerals and divination. The scriptures were written on the tough local paper with bamboo pens and were bound with threads. Written in a unique way and style, all the scripts in Dongba literature look like beautiful paintings. They are also of great value for comparative studies of the techniques of papermaking and binding of literature in ancient times. As they cannot withstand natural ageing and incessant handling, the challenge of how to safeguard this rare and irreproducible heritage is under study. Dongba literature, except for that which is already collected and stored, is on the brink of disappearing, and Dongba culture itself is becoming dispersed and is slowly dying out as a result of the impact of other powerful cultures. There are only a few masters left who can read the scriptures.

There is insufficient evidence to set accurately the time and place of creation of Naxi ancient literature and the Dongba script. However, it is of great value for studies into the origin of classical Chinese, and quite possibly, as Tibetan Buddhism also had a great influence on the Dongba religion, the origins of ancient Naxi Dongba literature may lie not only in the southwest of China, but also in some of the bordering countries.

A modern example of the Dongba pictograms used by the Naxi people in Yunnan province in southern China.

Dongba pictograms used by the Naxi people, the only system of pictograms still in use today.