A Brief Exploration on the Frameworks for Sorting Naxi Dongba Literature

Yang Jiehong

（Ethnic Literature Research Institute， Chinese Academy of Social Sciences，Beijing，100732，China）

JOURNAL OF ETHNOLOGY， VOL. 5， NO.4， 59-65， 2015 （CN51-1731/C， in Chinese）

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2015.04.08

Abstract：

Dongba literature refers to those documents recorded in Naxi pictographs or Dongba characters， including Dongba religious scriptures and folk or secular literature （such as land contracts， accounting books， letters， or songbooks， etc.）.In looking at the past one hundred years of history of collating Dongba literature， we can say that there are considerable achievements.However， there are also a lot of regrets. These regrets have a causal relation with the research framework formed within specific historical conditions. Speaking more specifically， the two orientations， “historical”  and “literary”， have had a deep impact on sorting Dongba literature. A review or reflection on these two research orientations will be beneficial for sorting Dongba literature in a more scientific and reasonable manner.Moreover， it will also provide a good reference for sorting the ancient literature of other ethnic groups.

I. The Framework which takes a “Historial Orientation” to Sorting Dongba Manuscripts， and its Achievements

Sorting ethnic literature through a historical orientation has been done in the disciplines of historical studies， ethnology and anthropology. This orientation looks at Dongba literature as the “heritage” and “living fossils” of primitive religion and primitive culture. Thus， it is put into a low-level of social development within the context of social evolution.

According to A. Jackson， an English scholar of Naxi studies， there are more than 21，800 volumes of Dongba manuscripts collected in public institutes or private hands around the world， among which China has a collection of 13，000 volumes.Yu Shunsheng states that after the implementation of the “reform and open policy”， more than 3500 volumes of Dongba manuscripts have been collected by domestic institutions or private collectors， and more than 2000 volumes have flowed out to western countries.Regarding the publication of Dongba manuscripts， 22 kinds have been sorted， and formally published by the domestic scholars.In addition， from 1962 to 1965， the Lijiang County Cultural Center made of lithographic prints  of the 22 kinds of Dongba manuscripts， and the Dongba Cultural Research Institute mimeographed several kinds in recent years. Speaking from the categories，  number， and scale of the annotations of the Dongba manuscripts， the naxi dongba guji yizhu quanji （ An Annotated Collection of Naxi Dongba Manuscripts） is the most prominent and influential.It can be regarded as the one which has had a monumental significance on Dongba culture studies during the past one hundred years .

II.The Framework which takes a “Literary Orientation” to Sort Dongba Manuscripts and its Achievements

Taking a “Literary  orientation” means that the compilers made some “literary” changes to the texts so that they fit within the context of the time， and were in accordance  with the values of the compilers  as they sorted， and translated  the ancient manuscripts. Compared with the principle of “collecting comprehensively， faithfully recording， accurately translating，  and careful sorting” declared by those who use the historical approach，  the method of sorting Dongba literature through a “Literary Orientation” is more influenced by ideology.

Recomposing Dongba literature through the “Literary Orientation” started in 1940s， and its high points were in the periods before and after the “cultural revolution”. The translation， recomposition， and creation of “Dongba literature” were very prominent in 1980s and 1990s. During this period，the naxizu wenxue shi（the History of Naxi Literature） published in 1991， was representative.It provided a comprehensive and systematic introduction to the creation of the literature of the Naxi during different periods.

III.  Between the “Literatary ” and “Historical” Approaches

The third kind of sorting  method lies between the “literary” and “historical” approaches.This type is represented by the naxi dongbajing xuanyi （Selected Translations of Naxi Dongba Scriptures） and the jitian guge （The Ancient Songs of Worshipping Heaven） translated and arranged respectively by He Zhiqu and Ge Agan. There are several common characteristics of these two books： firstly， both of them were completed in 1980s， and were less influenced by ideology; secondly， both of them provided liberal Chinese translations， and did use phonetic symbols or word annotations. Hence， seriously speaking，they were not translations with annotation， they were research data for researchers. Thirdly， they differed  from the “secondary  creations” made by those who used the literary orientation mentioned above. The content was faithful to the original texts of the Dongba scriptures. Furthermore， both authors had done in-depth investigation on the Dongba scriptures， kept the original style of the Dongba scriptures and provided annotations to specific words in the scriptures. Finally， because the authors in-depth understanding of the Dongba literature， and their high skills with regard to Han Chinese culture， they were able to break through the barriers of the two cultures， reach a high level of translation， and accurately reflect the historical features and cultural connotations of Dongba literature. Speaking from this perspective， the nature of these two texts/books lies in a place between the two orientations of “literature” and “history”.

IV. Conclusion

The“Literary  orientation” and “Historical  orientation” rose and fell， and also intersected with each other. Ethnic literature classified according to the “orientation of history” could provide

the text for the translation of the “literary” translation， while the “literary”  translation

and sorting became important evidence of “history”. Moreover，with the popularization of easy-to-understand “folk literature”， both the scale of audiences and the impact on them has expanded. These  two orientations are obviously deeply restricted by the context of the time. The former looks at Dongba literature as “folk literature” or “oral literature” in opposition to authored literature. By eliminating the nature of religion and ritual， it was reformed into “public literature” which could serve the new stage.

Since the founding of new China， the state has paid further attention on the work of investigation， sorting， and research on various ethnic literature， and has made great achievements. However， due to the influences of the era， there are still many regrets in the sorting and researching of ethnic literature. Only by giving reflection on the causal factors of these issues， learning lessons from experiences and avoiding the repetition of mistakes， can we truly carry out the principle of “collecting comprehensively， recording faithfully， translating accurately and classifying carfully ” so that the work of sorting ethnic literature can have a sustainable development-This is also the target of this article.

Key Words： Dongba literature; sorting framework; literary orientation; historicism

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