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Dongba —The Last Hieroglyphic Language

Dongba —The Last Hieroglyphic Language. Mrs. Miroff Brookwood Middle School. History of Dongba. Dongba is the ancient written language of the Naxi people in Yunnan South China. The most famous collection is the Dongba Scriptures with more than 20,000 books.

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Dongba —The Last Hieroglyphic Language

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  1. Dongba—The Last Hieroglyphic Language Mrs. Miroff Brookwood Middle School

  2. History of Dongba • Dongba is the ancient written language of the Naxi people in Yunnan South China. • The most famous collection is the Dongba Scriptures with more than 20,000 books. • Like Egypt’s Hieroglyphics, the Dongba script is firmly based on pictures.

  3. Dongba • The word 'Dongba' refers not only to the texts but also to the name given to their highly respected scholar priests - learned individuals with extensive knowledge in the fields of ceremonies, religion, music, arts and crafts, history, astronomy and literature. • In 2003, the Ancient NaxiDongba Literature Manuscripts were included in the World Memory Heritage List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

  4. How long will Dongba be around? • As with all other ancient pictographs, the Dongba language is facing extinction. • With a population of only 320,000, the new generations of the Naxis are preoccupied with the mainstream education, and placed less emphasis on their own culture. • Realizing the predicament faced by this important piece of the Chinese culture, the government and local communities took immediate action to promote and preserve this Dongba heritage with the setup of the Dongba Culture Research Bureau.

  5. The Dongba Cultural Research Center

  6. Why is it important? • At first, the Dongba character was just a kind of hieroglyphic recorded on wood and stone. • Later, with the use of paper, the use of characters gained popularity and gained its formal name. • As a rare cultural treasure for all mankind, the Dongba character is the only existing hieroglyphic in China and praised to be the 'Living Fossil' showing the characters' origin and development of human society.

  7. Making paper for Dongba scripts

  8. The paper is still made like this today.

  9. Dongba Today • Dongba takes years to learn. • Older men in the group are called Dongba Shamans. • They pass down the tradition of writing in Dongba to their male relatives. • In this photo, a Dongba Shaman is writing the BMS school motto on a scroll for my classroom.

  10. Dongba and the Naxi • The smart and unsophisticated Naxipeople who have long inhabited Lijiang preserve the unique and profuse Dongba Culture. • In fact, a great number of scholars and travelers are attracted to this mysterious place more for the culture than its charming sceneries. • DongbaCulture is of a religious nature and make up the most important component of the ancient Naxi culture.

  11. A traditional Naxi house

  12. Several Dongba Hieroglyphs

  13. Mrs. Miroff on a hike through the Himalayas to find the Naxi villagers.

  14. As a result… • Dongba is trying to be preserved for future generations. • The cultural center is teaching about Dongba to tourists. • In Alabama, Dongba is listed as a required topic to learn about, if you take the Cultural World Geography elective.

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