Naxi

Traditional Naxi clothing

The Naxi ( Chinese 纳西族 , Pinyin Nàxī zú ) are a people in the southwest of the People's Republic of China . They live in the southeastern foothills of the Himalayas . The center of the Naxi culture is the city of Lijiang , the old town of which has also been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO .

The Naxi are one of the 55 ethnic minorities officially recognized by the Chinese government . The Mosuo tribe (also: Moso) is officially regarded as part of the Naxi. However, the two ethnic groups differ greatly from one another, especially culturally. While the Mosuo have been the focus of much speculation for their matrilineal elements and visiting relationships, the Naxi are more concerned with their script and their Dongba ritual experts. In the 2010 census, a total of 326,295 Naxi were counted.

history

The exact history of the Naxi is lost in the dark. Among other things, it is assumed that they immigrated from the west or northwest at some point, perhaps not until the 10th century. Different and inconsistent names of the Chinese for ethnic groups who lived on the edge of their territory make the reconstruction difficult. So it would theoretically be possible that the Maoniu Yi mentioned in the Han Dynasty or the Moxie Yi of the Tang Dynasty were their ancestors. The area of distribution was also closer to the states of Nanzhao and Dali than to the actual Chinese territory, it was probably also subject to them temporarily. The area was described as inaccessible and rebellious until the 20th century.

Since the Naxi were a tribal society , they organized themselves into clans or clans , which had a strong sense of independence from the outside world. A counter-movement set in between the 10th and 13th centuries, when nomadism lost its influence in favor of other ways of life, agriculture, trade, etc. Individual, more powerful tribes also emerged, among which slavery seems to have been widespread.

Lijiang was officially declared a Chinese prefecture for the first time during the Yuan Dynasty . While this influence can probably still be neglected, the politics of the Ming dynasty were more relevant: In order to enforce their claim to remote, rebellious, non-Chinese ethnic areas, they supported local rulers, who in turn were tributaries to the Ming. In doing so, it pursued a policy of non-interference with local traditions. In the Naxi area, the rulers supported and legitimized by China were the Mu clan.

Only in the 18th century (1723/24) this policy was abandoned by the Qing and replaced by an attempt to introduce the official system. Mandarins were sent by the court to administer the area. The Mu rulers were dethroned and many local traditions were abolished as incompatible with Confucianism and Chinese morals.

Even in the 20th century, the Naxi were strongly influenced by the outside world. In the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) Lijiang became an important base on the supply route of the allies with the Guomindang . The Flying Tigers took off from a specially built airport . In 1949 Lijiang became part of the People's Republic of China , whose measures also strongly influenced smaller ethnic groups.

Perhaps the most significant modern influence is Lijiang's opening to tourism. While only a few backpackers could be found in the 1990s , the new Chinese mass tourism in particular has caught on in the last few years. Whether this only promotes folklore, serves the independent preservation of the Naxi or undermines their culture remains controversial and remains to be seen. About 2.8 million tourists are counted for 2000.

Culture

The Naxi Orchestra is a well-known tourist attraction in Lijiang.

While the Naxi culture and language ( counting among the Tibetan-Burman languages ) in the western area of distribution (around the old capital Baisha and the new Lijiang ) is rather uniform, the exact relationships and similarities with the groups in the eastern part are disputed. These points of contention include the Mosuo in particular , which are at the center of many (more glamorous than revealing) discourses.

The traditional clothes of the Naxi women are "frog-eye garments", blue dresses with two white-colored circles sewn onto the shoulder. Since the predominant color is blue, the Mao cap has been used to this day. Skins are often used. The men almost no longer wear traditional clothing.

The association of the Naxi in China with love suicide is almost unknown in the West. This is traced back to the establishment of the mediation marriage based on the Chinese model from the 18th century.

The Naxi were made famous outside of China by the Austro-American botanist Joseph Rock , who lived in Yunnan for 24 years during the 1920s to 1940s, and Peter Goullart , a Russian doctor who toured Yunnan during the same time.

Another well-known figure in the area is Dr. Ho who made his fame through the descriptions of Bruce Chatwin .

religion

Women in traditional Naxi clothing

The ethnic religion of the Naxi is the starting point for numerous speculations. Concepts of diffusionism , original, nature-related animism and shamanism are used, which are problematic especially with the Naxi, as they only become visible historically after they came into contact with Nanzhao , Dali , Tibet and Han-Chinese areas in China .

The complexity of the religious traditions can be seen in the (albeit clichéd) saying: 100 ceremonies, 1000 rites, 2000 gods and 10000 texts.

First of all, temples of Vajrayana should be mentioned for the area , especially the Kagyupa . Bon , a renativistic religion of Tibet influenced by the structure of Vajrayana, can also be found. Furthermore, some women are active as "llübu" and especially perform divinatory and exorcistic rituals. Chinese influences have been very strong in the areas of families, weddings and burials.

The Dongba are particularly well-known abroad. These religious ritual experts are classified as shamans in some texts, sometimes also referred to as expelled Bon priests who arrived in the 17th century. In fact, some similarities to Bon can be found. The allocation problems as well as the major changes, especially in the 20th century, make an exact reconstruction impossible.

The Dongba presided over many important ceremonies. A revival by the Dongba Research Institute and re-organized festivities (often under the auspices of tourism) has begun in recent years.

The Dongba used an abundance of scriptures for long recitations, chants and when performing their ceremonies.

font

A manuscript on which the Dongba script can also be recognized.

According to tradition, the Dongba script goes back to the 13th century. In fact, it doesn't seem to be any older. The Dongba script was only used by the Dongba as a reminder or template for their rituals. It consists of around 1400 characters, 90% of which are real pictograms . It thus has the highest proportion of pictograms in all scripts still written today and is often generalized as hieroglyphic script . Despite its sometimes naive appearance, it is extremely complex and very difficult to learn. Older texts in particular are more likely to be a reminder that must be added from the head.

After there were almost no literary experts left, the Dongba Research Institute was founded. There and in some other university institutions, work has now begun on the vast body of scriptures that have been handed down.

Another Naxi script was Geba, which consisted of simplified characters from the Dongba script and borrowed, modified Chinese characters and newly invented characters.

Distribution areas of the Naxi at district level (2000)

In the 2000 census, 308,839 Naxi were counted across China. In their main area of distribution, Lijiang County , however, they only make up about 20% of the population. Only values above 0.10% were taken into account for the distribution areas.

City, district, municipality	Higher district level	Superior provincial level	Number of Naxi	Share of all of China's Naxi
Lijiang Autonomous County of Naxi *	Lijiang Governorate **	Yunnan Province	201.066	65.1%
Shangri-La County	Dêqên Autonomous District of the Tibetans	Yunnan Province	25,840	8.37%
Ninglang Autonomous County of the Yi	Lijiang Governorate **	Yunnan Province	19,653	6.36%
Weixi Autonomous County of Lisu	Dêqên Autonomous District of the Tibetans	Yunnan Province	18,489	5.99%
district Yongsheng	Lijiang Governorate **	Yunnan Province	9,259	3.0%
Muli Autonomous County of Tibetans	Liangshan Autonomous District of the Yi	Province Sichuan	4,317	1.4%
Guandu Municipality	Kunming City	Yunnan Province	2,660	0.86%
Wuhua District	Kunming City	Yunnan Province	2,100	0.68%
Yanbian County	Panzhihua City	Province Sichuan	1,720	0.56%
City of Dali	Dali Autonomous District of Bai	Yunnan Province	1,531	0.5%
Xishan District	Kunming City	Yunnan Province	1,355	0.44%
Markam County	Qamdo city	Tibet Autonomous Region	1,113	0.36%
circle Huaping	Lijiang Governorate **	Yunnan Province	1,079	0.35%
district Jianchuan	Dali Autonomous District of Bai	Yunnan Province	1,034	0.33%
district Lushui	Autonomous District Nujiang the Lisu	Yunnan Province	1.007	0.33%
Dêqên district	Dêqên Autonomous District of the Tibetans	Yunnan Province	940	0.3%
Panlong Municipality	Kunming City	Yunnan Province	918	0.3%
county Yanyuan	Liangshan Autonomous District of the Yi	Province Sichuan	792	0.26%
Dêrong County	Garzê Autonomous District of the Tibetans	Province Sichuan	719	0.23%
Heqing County	Dali Autonomous District of Bai	Yunnan Province	575	0.19%
Gongshan Autonomous County of Derung and Nu	Autonomous District Nujiang the Lisu	Yunnan Province	460	0.15%
Longyang District	Baoshan City	Yunnan Province	458	0.15%
Eryuan County	Dali Autonomous District of Bai	Yunnan Province	402	0.13%
Xi District	Panzhihua City	Province Sichuan	365	0.12%
county Fugong	Autonomous District Nujiang the Lisu	Yunnan Province	365	0.12%
Chuxiong City	Autonomous District Chuxiong the Yi	Yunnan Province	357	0.12%
Rest of China			10,265	3.3%

* Note: Naxi Lijiang Autonomous County (丽江纳西族自治县) was dissolved on December 26, 2002. On the same day, the Naxi Yulong Autonomous County (玉龙纳西族 dem) was established on most of its area .

** Note: Lijiang Governorate (丽江地区) was dissolved on December 26, 2002. On the same day, the prefecture-level city of Lijiang (丽江市) was founded on the same area.

Nationality communities of the Naxi

Provincial level	District level	District level	Nationality community	surface	Population (2000)	Including members of ethnic minorities	Of which members of the nominal nationality (s)
Province Sichuan	Liangshan Autonomous District of the Yi	Muli Autonomous County of Tibetans	Community Eya Naxi俄亚纳西族乡	591 km²	5,402	4,731	3,148
Yunnan Province	Lijiang City	district Yongsheng	Community Da'an the Yi and Naxi大安彝族纳西族乡	241 km²	15,402	9,919	5,545
Yunnan Province	Dêqên Autonomous District of the Tibetans	Shangri-La County	Sanba parish of the Naxi 三坝纳西族乡	977 km²	16,477	14,289	13.051
Tibet Autonomous Region	Qamdo city	Markam County	Community Yanjing Naxi盐井纳西族乡	850.6 km²	1,217	1,150	1,013

literature

Guo, Dalie郭大烈 u. He, Zhiwu和志武: 纳西族史Naxizu shi (History of the Naxi). 四川民族出版社Sichuan minzu chubanshe (Sichuan Nationalities Publishing House ). 成都 Chengdu 1994. ISBN 7-5409-1297-9 . 8 + 636 pages.

Guo, Dalie郭大烈 u. Yang, Shiguang杨世光 (Ed.): 东巴文化论Dongba wenhua lun (The Dongba Culture). 云南人民出版社Yunnan renmin chubanshe (Yunnan People's Publishing House ). 昆明 Kunming 1991. ISBN 7-222-00610-9 . 6 + 691 pages.

Hey, Zhonghua和钟华 u. Yang, Shiguang杨世光 (Ed.): 纳西族文学史Naxizu wenxueshi (literary history of the Naxi). 四川民族出版社Sichuan minzu chubanshe (Sichuan Nationalities Publishing House ). 成都 Chengdu 1992. ISBN 7-5409-0744-4 . 3 + 12 + 828 pages.

Li, Jinchun李近春 u. Wang, Chengquan王承权: 纳西族Naxizu (The Naxi). 民族出版社Minzu chubanshe (nationality publisher). 北京 Beijing 1984. 117 pages.

Naxizu jianshi纳西族简史 (Brief History of the Naxi). 云南人民出版社Yunnan renmin chubanshe (Yunnan People's Publishing House ). 昆明 Kunming 1984. 2 + 2 + 159 pages.

Wu, Xiongwu伍雄武 (Ed.): 纳西族哲学思想史论集Naxizu zhexue sixiangshi lunji (Collected contributions to the history of philosophical thought of the Naxi). 民族出版社Minzu chubanshe (nationality publisher). 北京 Beijing 1990. ISBN 7-105-00964-0 . 2 + 194 pages.

Yan, Ruxian严汝娴 u. Song, Zhaolin宋兆麟: 永宁纳西族的母系制Yongning Naxizu de muxizhi (The system of matrilinearity among the Yongning-Naxi). 云南人民出版社Yunnan renmin chubanshe (Yunnan People's Publishing House ). 昆明 Kunming 1984. 117 pages.

Zhan, Chengxu严汝娴 u. Wang, Chengquan王承权 u. Li, Jinchun李近春 u. Liu, Longchu刘龙初: 永宁纳西族的阿注婚姻和母系家庭Yongning Naxizu de Azhu hunyin he muxi jiating (The Azhu marriage and the matrilineal family among the Yongning-Naxi). 上海人民出版社Shanghai renmin chubanshe (Shanghai People's Publishing House ). 上海 Shanghai 1980. 3 + 321 pages.

Michael Oppitz : Naxi. Things, myths, pictograms. Völkerkundemuseum, Zurich 1997

Joseph Francis Rock : The Ancient Nakhi Kingdom of Southwest China . 2 volumes (Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, Vol. VIII and IX) Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1948

Web links

Commons : Naxi - collection of images, videos and audio files

Naxi - A language of China. On the language of the Naxi (ethnologue.com)