Leiden University Libraries Digital Collections

Spoken mainly in the Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, the Naxi language is a member of the Yi branch of the Tibeto-Burman language family. Written in pictographic script, Naxi literature consists almost exclusively of ritual texts. Also referred to as Dongba script, it is only intelligible to Dongba priests with a deep understanding of Naxi ancestral culture.

The Asian library holds a collection of 33 manuscripts that record the customs, religious practices and life of the Naxi people. These manuscripts originate from Lijiang, Eya, Sanba, Muli County and the Wuliang river valley.

These 33 manuscripts were deciphered and interpreted by Xi Shanghong Dongba Shaman, as part of an academic collaborative cooperation project between Leiden University Libraries and the Beijing Association of Dongba Culture and Arts (ADCA). The library records are based on the Chinese notations and translation of the manuscripts’ deciphering by Zhang Xu Tayoulamu, and the English translation by Duncan Poupard. The deciphering of these manuscripts in Baidi, Sanba Township, Yunnan province, was completed with the hard work of the ADCA research team and marks the important academic research achievements of the ADCA in the China National Social Science Foundation Key Project (No. 12&ZD234).