Informal Talks on Naxi Dongba Manuscripts

The talks will be given in Chinese, summaries in English will be provided

Who was Mr. Liejian? A Case Study of the Dongba Manuscripts in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin

This talk identifies the author and copying date of the Naxi Dongba manuscripts marked “Liejian” by analyzing the colophons and marks in the collections of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (SBB), revealing that Mr. Liejian was a Dongba from Lashi, Lijiang, and the manuscripts were copied in the 1930s.

Chunfeng Zhang is the managing editor of Journal of Chinese Writing Systems, and Associate Professor at the Center for the Studies and Application of Chinese Characters (CSACC) of East China Normal University, Shanghai. Her study mainly focuses on Naxi writing systems and manuscripts.

Dongba Script or Chinese Characters? A Case Study of Dongba Script from the Perspective of Written Contact

This talk examines several sets of character structures attested in Naxi Dongba manuscripts, analyzes their typological characteristics, and investigates the external factors influencing the development and evolution of the Dongba script. The research demonstrates that cultural and linguistic exchanges between the Naxi people and neighboring ethnic groups have left discernible imprints on Dongba script.

Yin Zhou is Associate Professor at Chongqing Jiaotong University and Visiting Scholar at INALCO, Paris. His research focuses on the Naxi Dongba script.