A Gongta Dongba (pronounced Ah Gong-tah) was born in 1972. In 1992, he became a disciple of Yang Zhashi Dongba, studying Dongba scriptures and various ritual practices. He later served as the village head of Youmi Village for twelve years and as a substitute teacher for five years. Since 2014, he has been translating the Dongba scriptures of Ruan Ke at the Dongba Culture Research Institute. From 2016 to 2018, he transcribed 103 volumes of Dongba texts for the Old Town District of Lijiang City, which were archived in the National Museum of China in 2018. In 2021, a Dongba script class was established at Jiaze Primary School, where A Gongta Dongba began teaching. Since 2023, he has been organizing and transcribing the orally transmitted Daba scriptures for the Moso Museum.

Date: Morning of November 21, 2024
Location: Home of A Gongta Dongba, Youmi Village, Ninglang Yi Autonomous County, Lijiang, Yunnan Province

Ding Yi: What does this symbol represent?

A Gongta Dongba: This means “fortified village” (zhài). If written like this, it means “village” (cūn). A “zhài” is slightly larger than a “cūn.” Some characters are pictographic, some are ideographic, and some are phonetic representations.

Ding Yi: About how long has this pictographic script been in use? A thousand years?

A Gongta Dongba: Several thousand years. It might even predate the oracle bone script. Among our ethnic group, if someone hasn’t studied it, they can’t read or write Dongba script—they can only speak the language. Dongba script has been passed down generation after generation, but the number of characters is quite limited.

Ding Yi: Approximately how many characters are there in Dongba script?

A Gongta Dongba: More than 1,800. Some pronunciations are hard to get right. Without a teacher, you wouldn’t understand the meanings. Some characters are pictographic—for example, this one shows a mouth with a bone in it, meaning “to gnaw.” This one here means “to drink.” This figure holding a sword represents “leading troops into battle.” This sentence is saying: this deity, acting alone, is not enough—he descends with countless soldiers to destroy the ghost fortress. This symbol represents a number. “dvq” and “geeq” mean “countless,” like the stars in the sky. “geeq” refers specifically to the stars above.

A Gongta Dongba: Yesterday there was a ritual to guide the soul of a deceased elder, but I couldn’t attend because this is my benmingnian (zodiac birth year). During one’s zodiac year, there are taboos for all eight directions: In the north, you can’t attend rituals for the dead. In the south, you can’t go to weddings. In the west, you can’t witness house construction…Each of the eight directions has its own taboo.

I was born in 1972 and grew up in this village. I graduated from Yongning Middle School in 1988. Back in the 1980s, very few people finished junior high. I served as village head here for twelve years and worked five years as a substitute teacher. Now I go to the school weekly to teach pictographic script—two classes a week. I’ve been teaching for six years.

Ding Yi: I saw your photo at the Moso Museum.

A Gongta Dongba: The Daba of the Moso people do not have a written script—the script they once had has disappeared, and everything now is passed down orally. We Dongba, on the other hand, do have scriptures. But every sentence spoken by the Daba, I can write down entirely in Dongba script. Dongba script can be used to write down what they orally transmit. After I was invited by them, I worked in Lugu Lake for over three months. Last year, I transcribed eighty volumes, and there are still maybe twenty or thirty left unfinished. After the two museum directors raised funds from the public, I began writing. The paper used is high-quality Dongba paper, which is a bit expensive. They brought in a Daba practitioner and asked me to transcribe. At that time, he said, “If we don’t write it down now, the Daba culture may disappear entirely within two generations.” In our tradition, we have Dongba, and also another role called xiawu (侠武). Dongba could be seen as a “civil general” who specializes in reading scriptures, while xiawu is a “martial general” who performs dances during rituals. The Daba still preserve orally transmitted dance-chants, and I’ve already turned those into written scriptures—otherwise, after an elder passes, it becomes harder and harder to preserve the tradition. Dongba culture is an intangible cultural heritage, so it must be passed down. Tsinghua University published a book for us, and their scholars say Dongba script is the proto-script of Chinese characters.

Ding Yi: Is there variation in the Naxi language across different regions?

A Gongta Dongba: Yes. When we speak, the Naxi people from Lijiang can’t understand a single sentence. But we can understand them and can speak their version fluently. The same goes for the Yongning Moso. This proves that we are still speaking the older form of the language, while their Naxi has already changed.

Ding Yi: Can everyone understand the written scriptures?

A Gongta Dongba: They can’t read our scriptures. The scriptures of the Naxi people and those of us (the Ruan Ke people) are also different. Even the simplest of our books, they can’t read a single one.

Ding Yi: You mentioned earlier the ritual for the water deity—what do you call him?

A Gongta Dongba: He’s also called the Dragon King, or the Nature Deity. In Dongba scripture, we call him the “Shu God” (署神), who resides closest to the water source. No killing is allowed there. Even before the concept of “ecological protection” existed, people had already realized this. Our scriptures say that in the past, technology was very advanced, but because humanity overly damaged nature, nature retaliated—great floods were unleashed upon the world.

Ding Yi: Do you still use The Road to Heaven in funeral rites in Youmi Village?

A Gongta Dongba: Yes, we still use it.

Ding Yi: How long does the ritual for the dead last?

A Gongta Dongba: If the deceased lived to an old age, then the ritual lasts five days and five nights.

Ding Yi: So the older the deceased, the longer the ritual?

A Gongta Dongba: Yes. The scriptures vary depending on the person. If a Dongba passes away, the ritual lasts seven days and seven nights. The scripture for guiding a Dongba’s soul includes a packet this thick—maybe more than 30 volumes. The number of scriptures to be read or chanted for a Dongba’s death can exceed 100 volumes. For ordinary people, we might use 70 or 80 volumes for the ritual.