Dongba script is a script of the Naxi people in Lijiang area. It belongs to the pictographic ideographic script type, including pictographic, ideographic, referential, pictophonetic and other fonts. The total number of words is about 1600.
The ideographic method mainly uses one word or several words to represent a sentence, and the words and sentences are from left to right and top to bottom. This kind of writing was produced before the 11th century AD. It is a very primitive pictographic writing. From the perspective of the development of writing form, it is more primitive than oracle bone inscriptions. It belongs to the early form of the origin of writing. It was first written and painted on wood and The symbols and images on the stones were later written on paper after the invention of paper, which became a classic of Dongba script. Because Dongba mastered this writing, it was called Dongba script.
Dongba culture refers to the ancient culture of the Naxi people, so named because it is preserved in the Dongba religion. Dongba culture is a unique national culture that exists among the Naxi people based on the Dongba religion, the ancient religion of the Naxi people, and the scriptures used by the Dongba religion as the main recording method. Dongba culture was formed in the Tang and Song Dynasties and has a history of nearly a thousand years.
The Dongba religion of the Naxi people is a natural religion in the transition from a primitive form to a civilized form. It firmly believes that all things are animistic. It is a religion developed under the influence of the Naxi people's native culture - shaman culture and the Tibetan "Bon" religion that was later introduced to Lijiang. Dongba religion does not have temples or religious organizations, but it has rich and colorful religious ceremonies. The original religious culture of the Naxi people has rich connotations, including the entire ancient history and culture of the Naxi people. Dongba script is also called Naxi hieroglyphics, which is derived from original picture characters. In Naxi language, it is called "Sijuluju", which can be literally translated as "wood traces and stone traces". It contains two meanings: one refers to "the traces left on wood and stone"; the other is "the traces of wood and stone", which can also be extended to "seeing wood and painting wood, seeing stone and painting stone", that is, painting with Objects and images serve as tools for recording communication.
Each image symbol in Dongba script has its conventional lines and brushwork, forming a fixed concept of reference, and has a symbol to represent a certain character or word. There are currently 1,400 symbols each, which are precious cultural heritage. Because it is still in use today, it is considered "the only living hieroglyphic in the world." Sutras written in Dongba hieroglyphs are mainly used for reciting in Dongba temples. The Dongba Sutras are voluminous. There are more than 1,500 kinds of Dongba Sutras and documents that have survived to this day, with more than 20,000 volumes. Among them, there are about more than 1,000 Dongba classics. They can be classified into: Ten major categories include offering sacrifices to heaven, offering sacrifices to dragons, offering sacrifices to gods, offering sacrifices to ancestors, exorcising ghosts, exorcising wind and eliminating disasters, offering sacrifices to the wind, divination, dojo rules, and zero miscellaneous scriptures. It covers a wide range of astronomy, geography, religion, philosophy, myths and legends, and folk customs, and is known as the "encyclopedia" of the ancient Naxi people. In the Dongba Sutra, there are three famous epics: the creation epic "Chongban Tu", the war epic "The Battle of Black and White", and the love epic "Lu Bao Lu Rao".
The oldest commemorative symbols that can be seen today are the commemorative symbols engraved on pottery found at the ruins of the Yangshao Culture, which was formed six thousand years ago. Primitive pottery inscriptions cannot be used to record language in sentences, and can only be regarded as the embryonic form of writing. The earliest systematic writing is the inscriptions collected on bronze vessels by Shang Dynasty guests and the inscriptions collected on tortoise shells and animal bones for divination. Oracle and Dongba characters are somewhat similar to this type of writing.
There are four categories of ancient Chinese character creation methods: pictograms, meanings, meanings, and pictographs. Hieroglyphs copy the essential features and outlines of an object while omitting insignificant details. At the beginning of the creation of characters, there was a certain connection between the form and the meaning of the word it represented. With the passage of history, the form and meaning of the characters continued to develop and change. The Dongba hieroglyphics that are still preserved among the Naxi people are the only hieroglyphs that have been handed down and are still commonly used among the Naxi people, but they are more vivid and vivid.
It is said that Ding Bashiluo, the founder of Naxi, "holds the bamboo pen sent by the golden deer, bathes in the inspiration brought by the blue bird, observes the circular motion of Kuixing, observes the traces of turtles and birds, "Extensive and beautiful, combined into characters", this is the hieroglyphics still widely used in the lives of the Naxi people today - Dongba characters. It is derived from the original pictorial text, which is called "Siqiuluqiu" in Naxi language, which means "see wood and draw wood, see stone and draw stone". There are currently 1,400 known symbols and it is the only surviving hieroglyphic script in the world. It is simple, vivid, rough and exaggerated. Some words can be understood at first glance to understand the general meaning they represent.
The old Dongba people used bamboo pens cut from bamboo, dipped in Dongba ink made of pine oil and glue, and wrote many words in Dongba hieroglyphs on Dongba paper made of Naxi's unique wood fiber. Tens of thousands of volumes of Dongba scriptures are bound into long and narrow pages. This kind of scriptures on paper will last for hundreds of years. The ink will not fade and the paper will not be eaten by insects. Because of this kind of paper making The fiber is slightly toxic.
The people of Naxi speak Naxi, but they cannot write Dongba script, because only Dongba is qualified to learn Dongba script, and "Dongba" is the "priest" of the Naxi people. Dongba characters are lifelike in shape, and some characters are even colored, just like a colorful picture. The ancestors of the Naxi people used it to record the Naxi people's meditation on the universe, their explanation of the origin of mankind, and their reverence for ghosts and gods. As well as the myths and legends of the Naxi people, which are simple and philosophical, they have become the carrier and spiritual home of the Naxi cultural heritage, and are a reflection of the soul of ancient human civilization.
The natural number of Dongba characters in Naxi is "Siqiuluqiu", which means "wood and stone mark" or "see wood and draw wood, see stone and draw stone", so it is a typical pictogram Word. We can also see from the above legend that the scriptures were born out of the original pictorial characters, and there are currently 1,400 known symbols. Authoritative figures at home and abroad generally believe that it is the only hieroglyphic still alive in the world and a precious cultural heritage.
Dongba writing seems to be the earliest impression painting, exaggerated, bold, simple, general, and vivid, like a string of smooth and agile notes. The Naxi Dongba people cut bamboo into bamboo pens, used pine smoke and glue ink on a kind of wood fiber, and wrote tens of thousands of volumes of Dongba scriptures. Some hieroglyphs were also colored. They recorded the Naxi The ancestors meditated on the universe and life, explored the heaven, earth, humans, gods and ghosts, and provided simple and philosophical explanations for the origin of all things.
The Dongba people all use a kind of local wood fiber "paper" to write the Dongba scriptures. Over time, they are dyed bronze by the years, and the narrow and long pages are bound into a book. . The paper is full of descriptions of the sun, the moon and the birds, beasts, fish and insects of the river. A kind of language of heaven, a kind of ancient beauty.
With the development of Naxi society and the mutual influence of national culture, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, some Dongba people in Lijiang created the Geba script. Geba means disciple, and Gebawen means the writing created by the disciples of Dongba Shiluo’s descendants. Gebawen is the transformation and development of Dongbawen. The Naxi people created two ancient characters and still use these two ancient characters. It is not only a valuable historical material to solve the mystery of the emergence of human characters, but also one of the ideal fonts to enrich and develop traditional Chinese calligraphy and seal cutting art. Dongba script is known as the only "living hieroglyphic" that has been preserved intact in the world. It is one of the oldest hieroglyphs in the world and a "living fossil" of the origin and development of writing in human society.