Dongba inheritor seeks students to preserve culture

He Zhenggwen, a 42-year-old inheritor of Dongba culture, is seeking students at Baisha Naxi Embroidery Institute in Lijiang, about 600 km northwest of Kunming in Yunnan province.

Dongba culture, the soul of Lijiang, originated from the Dongba religion about 1,000 years ago and has long been a calling card of Lijiang. The 1,300 Dongba characters are the only living primitive pictographs in the world.

Many foreign tourists travel to Lijiang and are interested in Dongba culture. "I explain Dongba culture to at least three foreign visitors every day, sometimes even ten," said He Zhengwen.

He Zhengwen said, "I studied Dongba culture systematically in 1999 as the city took actions to prevent the culture being lost to the world."

Dongba writings on display. [Photo provided by Li Jincan for chinadaily.com.cn]

The local government selected seven descendants of the Dongba religion to study Dongba culture for three years at the Dongba Culture Research Institute.

He Zhengwen has got ahold of overall Dongba cultural artifacts after his graduation from the institute, including Dongba sacred books, paintings and sacrificial offerings, and was awarded as a municipal-level intangible culture inheritor in 2009.

Dongba paintings on display. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

He used to explain Dongba culture for tourist in Lijiang’s museum and local tourist attractions. He quit his job and returned to his hometown in order to find students to inherit Dongba culture.

"I have received several hundred students, but none of them can stick to the culture," said He Zhengwen.

He added that he is worried that Dongba culture will disappear as less and less young people want to learn it. He has a strong desire to share Dongba culture with the world through his foreign students.

Dongba characters. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Edited by Zachary Dye