Naxi Pictographs (Dongbawen)
Today there are 260,000 Naxi people. They are one of 50 or so ethnic minorities in China. Their predominant tribe, the Moso, is matrilineal. Mostly farmers and traders, the Naxi live in the Himalayan foothills near the Yangtze River. Although there are still practicing Naxi priests, they use a simplified pictographic system to produce a limited set of manuscripts, which they use for standard ceremonies such as funerals and blessings. Some Naxi people conduct ceremonies independently at small altars in their kitchens.
Naxi pictographs at first glance resemble the hieroglyphics in the Book of Death of ancient Egypt. They are, however, more sophisticated and complete because they range from a system of symbols to a complicated rebus with verbs, particles and phonetics. The booklets portray a distinctive religion with a unique theological interpretation of the cosmos.
Quentin Roosevelt wrote of the characters in the April 1940 edition of Natural History: The Magazine of the American Museum of Natural History:
"These old documents ... are extremely rare and scientifically important because almost nothing is known of the [Naxi] people whose history they reveal. Furthermore, the art of making the books has died out and the scrolls, which used to take a skilled [Dongba] six months to make while in a trance, are scarcely ever seen now. The writing, unlike anything known elsewhere, resembles superficially the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, but it has a certain action and humor that separates it at once from anything so stylized. The characters, at first glance, look like a child's picture book, a sort of Mickey Mouse. There are many little drawings of cows, horses, birds, tigers, dwarfs and strange gods that show a vigorous and refreshing artistic style."
Sinoquest is proud to open the first English language course of study focusing on Naxi pictographs (Dongbawen). Students will first learn basic reading and writing skills, leading to individual English translation of this wonderful language.
Reading materials will consist of original written manuscripts, from proverbs and idioms to full ritual texts. Part of the joy of studying Naxi pictographs is the fact that many of the texts have never been read or translated before!
