The video below is a short introduction to the Dongba script (东巴文), a primarily pictographic writing system used by the Naxi (纳西) people. Thought to have been created by Bon priests as a mnemonic device for reciting ritual texts and fables, the Dongba script may date back as early as the 7th century CE and has an inventory of over 2,000 characters.
Representatives from eight of Yunnan Province's ethnic minority communities, including the Jinuo (基诺), Derung (独龙), De'ang (德昂), Achang (阿昌) and Jingpo (景颇), recently met with journalists to share their views on cultural tourism and put forward their suggestions for promoting and preserving minority languages and folk culture.
Jingpo representative Duan Mei (段梅) pointed out that due to social progress and the economic development of minority regions, even those living deep in the mountain areas are becoming increasingly exposed to foreign cultural influences and marriages between ethnic minorities and Han are not uncommon.
News:
Tomb of Senior Ming Dynasty Official Discovered in Chongqing (Xinhua, Translated by Kelly M)
Archaeologists have discovered the tomb of a senior Ming Dynasty official and his wife in Chongqing's Banan District (巴南区).
China Eyes Wider Coverage for Public Cultural Services (Xinhua)
The Chinese government plans to expand free public access to the country's museums, libraries and art galleries by 2015 and hopes to make art collections and digitized cultural works more accessible to speakers of minority languages.
The Chongqing Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (重庆市文物考古所) recently announced the discovery of a tomb in Banan District (巴南区) thought to be the final resting place of a senior Ming Dynasty official and his wife. The archaeologists working at the site have speculated that the tomb is that of Li Wenjin (李文进), who held the position of Vice Censor-in-Chief during the reign of the Jiajing (嘉靖) emperor.
During the Chinese Bronze Age, the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau (云贵高原) was home to various Baipu (百濮) peoples, such as the Dian (滇), Yelang (夜郎) and Dianyue (滇越), and one of the key characteristics of the Bronze Age artefacts that have been excavated in Yunnan Province is the widespread use of snake imagery. The snake motif is a recurring theme in Dian art during the Eastern Zhou, Qin and Han Dynasties and can be seen on artefacts excavated from the Shizhaishan (石寨山) tombs in Jinning County (晋宁县), the Lijiashan (李家山) tombs in Jiangchuan County (江川县), the Yangfutou (羊甫头) tombs in Kunming (昆明), the Batatai (八塔台) tombs in Qiujing (曲靖), and other Dian culture burial sites.
