Dongba manuscripts collected by National Museum

Yunnan province's Lijiang city donated 150 Dongba manuscripts to the National Museum of China on Dec 7.

Lijiang city donates 150 Dongba manuscripts to the National Museum of China on Dec 7. [Photo by Li Ning/Xinhua]

Dongba is a religious culture handed down by the Naxi ethnic group who currently live at the juncture of Yunnan province, Sichuan province and the Tibet autonomous region.

Naxi forefathers created a system of writing with more than two thousand characters, using a particular pictographic script to give voice to their customs and record their scriptures. The collected and stored Dongba scriptures are precious materials for studying Naxi people.

The 150 volumes of 1,300 scriptures, including almost all the kinds of existing Dongba literature, were transcribed by 35 "Dongbas", priests of the Dongba religion from Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, on handmade paper, and were then bound by hand.

Some 150 volumes of 1,300 scriptures transcribed by 35 Dongbas from Yunnan and Sichuan provinces are donated to the National Museum of China on Dec 7. [Photo by Li Ning/Xinhua]

The manuscripts were specially made for the National Museum of China after a Dongba culture exhibition was mounted in the museum two years ago.

It is expected that more and more people will become aware of the importance of Dongba culture and try to keep it alive.

"The Dongba manuscripts will enrich the collection of the national museum, which will have a positive influence on the protection and preservation of Dongba culture," said Lyu Zhangshen, head of National Museum of China, at the donating ceremony.

Officials of Lijiang city and the National Museum of China and Dongbas at the donating ceremony on Dec 7 [Photo by Li Ning/Xinhua]