What is Dongba?

Lijiang is the main settlement of Naxi people in China and the only Naxi autonomous county in China. It is a unique tourist attraction in Yunnan Province. Lijiang's beautiful natural landscape and ancient town, which are integrated with the natural environment, attract more and more domestic and foreign tourists, and the unique and rich Naxi Dongba culture attracts people all over the world.

Dongba culture, like the ancient cultures of other nationalities in the world, is also a religious culture and an ancient Naxi culture handed down from generation to generation in Dongba.

Dongba, the main inheritor of Dongba culture, translated as a wise man, is the highest intellectual of Naxi nationality. Most of them combine singing, dancing, classics, books, history, painting and medicine.

Wei Lan, a scholar of Dongba culture in Lijiang River, said: "Dongba culture includes hieroglyphics, including Dongba Sutra, Dongba Painting, Dongba Dance, Dongba Music and various Dojo in Dongba, which also contains many connotations of national psychological quality. The so-called Dongba culture refers to such a cultural system. "

Dongba is a very primitive hieroglyph, which is more primitive than Oracle Bone Inscriptions in terms of the development of characters. Belongs to the early form of the origin of words. The earliest symbol images were written and painted on wood and stone, and these symbol images were not written on paper until paper appeared.

Dongba is called Dongba because it has mastered this kind of writing.

Dongba script is the only remaining hieroglyphics in the world at present, and it is a "living fossil" of the origin and development of human social characters.

Wei Lan, a scholar of Dongba culture in Lijiang, said: "Dongba Sutra is now what we call a living hieroglyph. It is now collectively referred to as the encyclopedia of Naxi ancient society, because it involves all aspects, such as history, politics, astronomy and geography, literature and art, religion, anthropology, and even medicine, as well as a lot of knowledge about production and life, and of course, many fairy tales. "

According to incomplete statistics, there are 1700 hieroglyphs * * in Dongba characters, which are integrated with calligraphy and painting, with smooth lines, concise brushwork and bright colors. At present, many Dongba characters are still using these characters.

Wei Lan, a scholar of Dongba culture in Lijiang, said: "Dongba characters are basically the same, because of the sense of respect created by human beings, or imitation. Words are nothing more than tools for recording languages.

When people observe things, they record them. At first, there were pictures. Now we have many hieroglyphs in Dongba language. A picture is a story and a fixed content. You can see what it means by looking at this picture. Therefore, because of hieroglyphics, people are observing, such as our Chinese characters. Because we see that' mountain' on the plain, it is a mountain. There are three mountains, but Naxi people live in the mountains, and when he goes out, it is a mountain, so when he creates words, there is only one' mountain', which is what it means. Like the door of Chinese characters, there are two doors, while the Naxi people only have one door, so he only sees one door when he creates words, which is related to his environment, so he draws everything he sees when he creates words, and gradually uses pictures.

In the words of Han people, we call calligraphy and painting the same origin. "

With the development of Naxi society and the mutual influence of national culture, some Dongba in Lijiang created Gebawen in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties.

Geba means disciple, Gebawen is a character created by Dongbashro descendants, and Gebawen is the transformation and development of Dongba.

Wei Lan, a scholar of Dongba culture in Lijiang, said: "Pictographs evolved from pictures to Dongba characters, so Dongba characters have high artistic value. Every Dongba character is a beautiful painting. "

A little knowledge: Naxi people call themselves "Na", "Naxi" and "Na Ru".

Historical records of Jin and Tang Dynasties are called "Mosha" or "Mosuo".

Distributed in Lijiang, Zhongdian, Weixi and Ninglang in Yunnan, Yanyuan, Yanbian and Muli in Sichuan.

The language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family or the Yi branch of the Tibetan-Burmese language family.

Second, Naxi costumes

Naxi people not only have their own unique culture, but also their costumes are colorful and distinctive, which is mainly reflected in the costumes of Naxi women.

The border area between Sichuan and Yunnan, where Naxi people live together, has towering mountains with an average elevation of more than 2,700 meters. Yulong Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain stand like crystal jade screens in the north of Lijiang and the southeast of Zhongdian.

There are more than 240 thousand Naxi people, who are distributed in the northwest of Yunnan Province and the southwest of Sichuan Province. Lijiang County, with a population of about 6.5438+0.7 million, is the main inhabited area of Naxi nationality.

Dai women are a beautiful cultural landscape in Old Town of Lijiang.

They are strong, bright, enthusiastic and simple, and are famous for their diligence and ability. Just like the seven embroidered discs on the sheepskin shawl they wear, they shoulder the sun, the moon and the stars, commonly known as "Dai Yue Dai Xing", which symbolizes the hard work of Naxi women.

They worked day and night and took on almost all the housework.

In order to adapt to the production of agriculture and animal husbandry in plateau areas, the ancient Naxi people generally used self-woven linen or coarse cotton cloth as clothing materials. Men wear short coats and trousers, while women wear short coats and long skirts.

Men and women, mostly * * * shoes and socks, a belt with flowers, covered with sheepskin or felt.

The sheepskin shawl on Naxi women's backs has both decorative function and practical value. They mainly carry heavy objects by shoulders, so shawls can protect their backs.

Later, due to the influence of the Han nationality, men's wear was basically the same as that of the Han nationality.

Women's clothing, except for the custom of wearing skirts in some places, has been replaced by trousers, but the overall clothing still has distinctive national characteristics.

When working or going out, they wear robes, vests, trousers, pleated aprons and sheepskin shawls.

The shawl is beautifully made, with two big circles on the shoulders and seven small circles on the back, commonly known as "seven stars".

It is said that the silk thread embroidered on the circular cloth circle is a beautiful star map, and the hanging spikes indicate the light of the stars.

Legend has it that Yinggu, a hardworking, capable, intelligent and beautiful Naxi girl in ancient times, struggled with the drought demon for nine days and finally collapsed and died. In recognition of Ying Gu's brave behavior, Baisha Sanduo pinched seven cold suns swallowed by Xue Jinglong controlled by the drought demon into seven round stars and put them on Ying Gu's coat. Later, Naxi girls imitated the English aunt and nailed the seven-star pattern on the shawl, symbolizing Dai Yue's diligence and courage.

There is also a saying that the Naxi people have regarded frogs as a god of wisdom since ancient times, which can solve people's difficulties. Therefore, those circular patterns represent frog's eyes and are historical relics of frog totem worship.

Third, Dongba culture (2)

Dance is an important part of Naxi life. They have many colorful folk dances.

Dongba dance is a classic dance of Naxi nationality, which shows the struggle between ancient Naxi people and the evil forces of nature and society.

Naxi people are famous for their songs and dances.

"Records of the Tang and Yuan Dynasties" records that "men and women are all in sheep's clothing and like drinking, singing and dancing", and "men and women move a hundred times, each holding one hand, dancing and dancing in groups for fun".

At present, primitive dance, Dongba classical dance, group dance and new song and dance are widely circulated and newly discovered among the people.

Macdami and Jeremy are original dances of poetry, song and dance.

It is characterized by being good at singing and dancing, promoting dance by singing, assisting singing by dancing, and stopping after singing; There is no instrument accompaniment, and the number, place and occasion are not limited, and both men and women can participate.

The dance steps are simple, usually with the right hand on the left shoulder or arm in arm, marching from the right side and gradually forming a circle.

Dongba dance is a classical dance of Naxi nationality and an important part of Dongba culture.

It is a religious dance performed by Dongba Taoist priests according to different rituals and rules of the Dojo.

From the formal point of view, Dongba dance seems to be mostly an action of jumping to exorcise ghosts, but in fact, most of the content is to show the struggle between the ancient Naxi people and the evil forces of nature and society.

The former head of Lijiang Song and Dance Troupe and Shiwei: "Its dances are different according to the contents of sacrifices, such as offering sacrifices to heaven, dancing when offering sacrifices to heaven, and dancing when offering sacrifices to the wind, such as mourning, mourning and mourning. It is different. "

The source of Dongba dance material mainly comes from the folk, because after being absorbed from folk dances, it is used for the dance of offering sacrifices to shrines, and after adding some styles of Dongba religion, it becomes Dongba dance, which is very folk. It turns out that Dongba is also a folk, because it has not left its family, and everything in production and life is the same as that of folk workers, so it is very folk.

In Diemo, two ancient books about dance written in hieroglyphics, hundreds of almost lost 60 kinds of dances are recorded.

Dances in Butterfly Dance can be divided into animal dance, knife bow dance and great god dance.

Among them, sword bow dance includes knife dance, bow dance and barefoot dance.

He Shiwei, head of the former Lijiang Song and Dance Troupe in Dongba Palace, said: "Bow and arrow dancing is evil, so when he fights in the sky, he shoots evil, and when he fights underground, he fights evil, so his direction is up and down. This is just two movements, and the other is evil in four directions. Ghosts should be divided into good ghosts and evil spirits, and God also has good ghosts and evil spirits. "

"Yak Killing Tiger" is an animal dance adapted from Naxi folk stories. Dance is divided into several parts, such as chanting, yak beating tiger and so on.

This paper mainly tells the story of two monkeys, representing the two earliest families of mankind, one worships tigers and the other worships yaks, and the two families have a dispute over this.

In Dongba dance, many dances are formed by imitating the movements of animals.

According to Dongba dance score, the oldest dance of Naxi nationality originated from the jumping of golden frog.

Today, an ancient dance "Leba Dance" is still circulating in the mountainous area of northwest Lijiang.

According to "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals", "Yesterday, Le Ge, three people fucked oxtails and threw eight songs".

The most striking feature of Leba dance is dancing with cow's tail. It imitates elephants, eagles, monkeys, frogs and tigers respectively, forming a set of coherent dance movements.

Fourth, Dongba Palace.

As the main part of Dongba culture, whether it is writing, music or dance, their inheritance and development are inseparable from Dongba. Dongba Palace in Old Town of Lijiang provides a window for modern people to understand Dongba culture.

Dongba Palace is located in Old Town of Lijiang East Street. Its gatehouse is decorated with Dongba's "five crowns", and Dongba's "wooden sign" paintings are hung on both sides of the gate. The unique decoration and cultural activities of Dongba Palace will make you feel the charm of Dongba culture.

Yang Hong, a member of Yunnan Branch of Chinese Dancers Association, said: "After Dayan Ancient City was listed as a world cultural heritage, tourists from home and abroad came in droves. Dongba culture is a major part of the world cultural heritage, or its core, so we tried to set up a window to show the music and dance of Dongba culture to the outside world."

People who come to Lijiang not only enjoy the beautiful natural scenery, but also listen to Naxi ancient music, watch Dongba dance and learn about Dongba culture.

Yang Hong, a member of Yunnan Branch of Chinese Dancers Association, said: "We should highlight the characteristics of Naxi people in the layout of Dongba Palace, that is, we should highlight the characteristics of Dongba.

Mainly through Dongba scriptures, cultural relics, Dongba paintings, sacrificial supplies, Dongba murals, reliefs and so on. This paper introduces the music and dance in Dongba culture of Naxi nationality completely, trying to strengthen its cultural atmosphere and let everyone have a relatively intuitive understanding of Naxi music and dance culture. "

The whole Dongba Palace is a small and complete museum of national culture and art. Through it, you can enjoy the unparalleled Dongba culture and art, and enjoy the real Naxi ancient music and folk songs and dances.

Yang Hong, a member of Yunnan Branch of Dongba Palace Chinese Dancers Association, said: "This is also to protect and carry forward our national culture. In this case, I may think it is very important to dig and organize, so we have gathered a large number of Naxi folk dancers, singers, performers and old Dongba to concentrate them here, and people like me are also learning from them. Only when you learn well can you spread. "

In order to better spread Dongba culture, Dongba Palace organized some famous old Dongba, folk singers and some folk artists with unique skills in Naxi area. On the basis of retaining the original flavor, a number of wonderful programs with the most local flavor and national characteristics were excavated and sorted out, focusing on Dongba culture and art. These programs are fresh, magical, elegant, profound and spectacular, and are well received by domestic and foreign audiences.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) Dongba culture (3)

Dongba painting is one of the important contents of Dongba culture, which includes "wooden raft painting", "dragon painting", "cloth scroll painting" and "scripture painting", reflecting all kinds of secular life in ancient Naxi society.

Traditional Dongba paintings are mainly produced and used by Dongba when doing things. There are paintings of Buddha statues, classics, paintings of gods, ghosts, birds and animals on wooden signs, and large-scale cloth paintings. There are also decorative paintings that reflect people's production and life. These brushes are rough, colorful, simple and vivid.

Zhang Chunhe, a painter of Naxi nationality, said: "All the contents in Dongba culture, including scriptures, including' wooden raft' paintings, cards and sacred axes, are preserved and recorded in the form of paintings, because its endless scriptures are endless paintings, because its painting form is hieroglyphics.

Where are most traditional Dongba paintings? It can be said that hieroglyphs and hieroglyphs are actually very simple and abstract Dongba paintings on rock walls and bark, especially in Dongba paintings.

From my point of view as a painter, I think this is painting.

Where did they draw this picture? Where did they write it? It's rough to write on my own paper, but I think it has a good texture and a long shelf life. There are very distinctive paintings of sacred axes, including the world-famous map of Lu Shen. The traditional map of Lu Shen is about 45cm wide and 20m long, which is regarded as the straightest and longest scroll painting in the world. Where was it painted? What kind of pigment is it made of? It was hand-woven by Naxi farmers themselves. After the cloth is woven, it is rolled with stones bit by bit, and the surface is very smooth. Then, shellac, glue used by farmers and shellac are coated on it. Then after this production, this place will use traditional bamboo pens or homemade writing brushes and crochets. So the traditional Dongba painting, you see, including its characters, is written on his own paper and wood. But the picture shows that we cut the tree into several petals and then use our own mineral pigments. These colors of traditional Dongba paintings are particularly good, and they are all made by ourselves. "

The content of traditional Dongba painting mainly shows the ghosts and gods believed by ancient Naxi people and various ideal worlds.

The scroll painting "The Road of God" in Dongba paintings is generally more than 14 meters long and about 26 centimeters wide. It is mainly used to describe the specific scenes of the deceased in various stages, such as hell, earth, nature, heaven, etc., and has high cultural and artistic research value.

Although the traditional Dongba painting is also influenced by the surrounding national cultures, especially the Sino-Tibetan culture, it still systematically maintains its overall style and characteristics.

Zhang Chunhe, a painter of Naxi nationality, said: "The Dongba culture of Naxi nationality is really greatly influenced by Tibetan Buddhism, so all the painting parts of Dongba culture of Naxi nationality, including other ritual parts, and so on. People consciously or unconsciously know that they are greatly influenced by Tibetan culture and Buddhism, including painting, but the whole process, the whole coloring and the use of lines are very, very. What can I say? It's not that gorgeous. It's simple. After painting a picture, its appearance is packaged. No need for decoration. Then it usually uses two pieces of black cloth, upper and lower, and then in the middle, just like the axis in Chinese painting. Just put two pieces of wood and the whole process will be completed. "

A group of young and middle-aged painters of Naxi nationality, on the basis of absorbing the essence of ancient Dongba painting and calligraphy, used modern techniques and materials to create modern Dongba paintings.

Zhang Chunhe, a Naxi painter, said, "Modern Dongba painting is completely different from contemporary Dongba painting, because there are many tools and materials for painting in modern times, which have undergone earth-shaking changes. Then some painting methods of modern Dongba painting school include me, and there are many Naxi people who explore Dongba painting like me. They use materials. Even if they wear oil paintings, many people still use imported ones. Like the famous imported Windsor Newton, those oil painters are painting, even woodcuts. There is also a watermark woodcut with a set of colors on it. This form, like traditional Chinese painting and heavy color painting, is now used by Yunnan painting school. At first, these paintings were made of Korean paper.

Thick colors, in sharp contrast between wood and color, emphasize these forms. Therefore, contemporary and modern materials are different, colors are different, and concepts are of course different. A person and a person's paintings are put together, which is absolutely different. They are exploring their own ways and using different materials, so this is a very good phenomenon and can be maintained. I feel a little different again. I have just repeated that our painting school is a contemporary Dongba painting based on a very heavy Dongba culture and Dongba culture that has been produced for thousands of years.

Therefore, this kind of painting has great vitality in the world, with new content and form. It is a phenomenon of contemporary people's heavy reflection on the past, tradition and ancient culture, so it is not very beautiful. "