Dongba
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Dongba refers to both the religion and the priests of the Nakhi people of southwest China.
Dongba wood carving in the ancient town of Shuhe, Yunnan
Dongba paper shop in the old town Lijiang
Dongba symbols
Videos
The Dongba, Tomba or Tompa or Mo-so symbols are a system of pictographic glyphs used by the ²dto¹mba of the Naxi people in southern China. In the Naxi language it is called ²ss ³dgyu 'wood records' or
Dongba
…deeply ingrained in Nakhi culture, with Dongba priests serving as the primary transmitters of traditional Nakhi culture, literature and the pictographic Dongba symbols. The priests also conduct a variety of rituals to propitiate the many gods and spirits which are believed to play an active part in the natural world…
Painted Naxi panel
Dongba symbols are printed on buses in Lijiang.
Sign with text in Chinese, English and Dongba in Lijiang
Dongba characters combined with simplified Chinese characters