Diaoyutai exhibits 700m scroll

A 700-meter Dongba pictograph scroll named Heavenly Song of Millennium went on exhibit in the Beijing Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on May 18.

He Wenguang, the author of the scroll, is a local scholar of the Naxi ethnic group in Lijiang. It took him more than one year to finish the 700-meter scroll featuring roughly 50,000 characters.

The scroll was written with Dongba pictograph, Naxi pinyin and modern Chinese, expressing the dreams of prosperity and strength. The scroll maintains the special features of Dongba scrolls.

The inspiration of creating such a long scroll came from Fu Qiang, one of the artist’s son’s friends. At first, He Wenguang suggested Fu Qiang go to experts at the Dongba Research Institute and Lijiang Language Committee. However, there is no such expert who also knows Chinese, Dongba pictograph and Naxi pinyin. As a result, He Wenguang had to finish the scroll on his own.

The exhibition at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse provides an opportunity to promote Dongba literature, said He Wenguang.