DONGBA

of LEJAULT François

FRANCE, 2008, 00:56:22

Production : LEJAULT François
Genre : Travel Diary
Keyword : Memory, Cultural Identity

Summary :
This film is the travel diaryof a two-month trip in Naxi, Pumi, Yi Mosso villages in North Yunnan.
The Naxi (pop 300 000) is one of the 56 Chinese minorities that the Chinese constitution recognize. They live in North Yunnan and Sichuan.
The main Naxi town is Lijiang. Listed as World Heritage in 1997, Lijiang has become a major destination for tourists in China.
The Naxi have adopted a syncretic religion, called Dongba, which is a mixture of Tibetan Buddhism, the Bon (old Tibetan religion) and Taoism)
The priests are also called Dongba
Sorcerers, shamans, officiate many rituals: weddings, funerals and propitiation ceremonies among others.
The idea behind all the rituals, songs, dances and the great myths is contained in Dongba manuscripts recorded by means of a pictographic script invented in the thirteenth century.
This is one of the last pictographic writings which is still used worldwide.
Learning dongba is long and complex. This knowledge is transmitted from father to son.
At the age of five , they have to learn to how to write, sing, dance and conduct rituals and spirituality.
The rural exodus and economic development turn the youth away from this sacred route.
They are now older and fewer and fewer in number.
The Dongba Institute of Lijiang attempts to preserve the Dongba culture, training young adults and translating Naxi literature.

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