Who Are the Naxi People?
The Naxi are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group of approximately 320,000 people, primarily inhabiting Yunnan Province's Lijiang region. They are famous for their unique Dongba script—the world's only surviving pictographic writing system still in ritual use—and the ancient Naxi Dongba music inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register. Their homeland around Lijiang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has become a major tourist destination. Naxi culture represents a remarkable synthesis of indigenous traditions with Han Chinese, Tibetan, and other influences accumulated over centuries of trade route crossroads.
Dongba Script
The Dongba script is the world's only living pictographic writing system—over 1,400 characters depicting objects, actions, and ideas through recognizable images. Used exclusively by dongba (priests) for religious manuscripts, it represents an earlier stage of writing evolution than phonetic systems. Scholars treasure it for insights into writing's origins. The script records creation myths, funeral rites, divination practices, and cosmological knowledge. UNESCO inscribed Dongba manuscripts on the Memory of the World register in 2003. Training new dongba to read and write the script continues, though practitioners are few.
Dongba Religion
Dongba religion is the indigenous Naxi spiritual tradition, blending animism, shamanism, and later Tibetan Buddhist and Han Daoist influences. Dongba priests serve as ritualists, healers, and manuscript keepers. Elaborate ceremonies address life transitions, illness, natural disasters, and community needs. The religion centers on maintaining harmony between humans, nature, and spirits. Funeral rites are particularly important, guiding souls through the afterlife journey. While Buddhism and communism have displaced daily practice, dongba still perform ceremonies for tourists and, increasingly, for revived community rituals.
Naxi Music
The Naxi Ancient Music (Dongjing music) is a remarkable survival—orchestral music preserving Tang Dynasty (618-907) and Song Dynasty (960-1279) traditions lost elsewhere in China. Introduced via trade routes, this classical music was maintained by Naxi aristocrats and dongba while disappearing from its Chinese origins. Elderly musicians, some over 90, perform with ancient instruments. UNESCO recognized this musical tradition's significance. Lijiang now hosts regular performances for tourists, though authenticity debates arise as younger performers learn from commercial rather than traditional contexts.
Tourism and Change
Lijiang Old Town's UNESCO listing (1997) transformed Naxi homeland into a mass tourism destination—over 50 million visitors annually before COVID-19. Tourism brings income but also displacement (locals priced out of Old Town), commodification (manufactured "authenticity" for tourists), and cultural simplification (complex traditions reduced to performances). Dongba script appears on souvenirs rather than sacred texts. Yet tourism also funds preservation efforts and provides incentive for cultural maintenance. The Naxi navigate these tensions, balancing economic benefit against cultural integrity in one of China's most visited minority regions.
References
- McKhann, C. (2001). The Naxi and the Nationalities Question
- Rock, J. F. (1947). The Ancient Na-Khi Kingdom of Southwest China
- Mathieu, C. (2003). A History and Anthropological Study of the Ancient Kingdoms of the Sino-Tibetan Borderland