Dongba is a pictographic hieroglyph, which has both ideographic and phonetic parts. Its writing form is very primitive, even more primitive than Oracle Bone Inscriptions's. It belongs to the early form of the origin of characters, but it can also record the collection completely.
Dongba is a written language used by Naxi people living in eastern Tibet and northern Yunnan Province. Dongba language originated from the religious classics and encyclopedia Dongba Jing of Naxi nationality. Because this kind of writing is mastered by Dongba (a wise man), it is called Dongba.
Dongba has more than 1400 words, rich in words and expressions, able to express delicate emotions, record complex events and write poems and compositions. Dongba script is known as the only remaining hieroglyphics in the world and is known as the "living fossil" of characters. In 2003, Dongba ancient books were listed in the Memory of the World by UNESCO and recorded digitally.
Scholars at home and abroad believe that Dongba Sutra is a valuable material for studying Naxi ancient philosophy, language, social history, religious folklore, literature and art, ethics and morality, the evolution of religious culture in the Southwest Tibetan-Yi Corridor, the history of ethnic relations and the origin of China ancient culture.