“Divine Kings and Pictographs: the genealogical chronicles of the Lijiang Tusi and the Dongba manuscripts in the light of ethnohistory.”
Dr. Christine Mathieu
Professional anthropologist, independent scholar .
Ph.D Murdoch University Australia
“Divine Kings and Pictographs: the genealogical chronicles of the Lijiang Tusi and the Dongba manuscripts in the light of ethnohistory.”
Topic #1: Studies on Naxi history, language, scripts (writing systems), historical chronicles, religion, philosophy, literature, art, thoughts, politics, military, law.
Contents: a reading and analysis of the Mu genealogical chronicles; an ethnohistorical enquiry into the development of the Naxi Dongba scripts and ritual books.
Method of enquiry: An ethnohistorical method and anthropological method: kinship analysis, functionalist approach, structuralist approach, practice theory, discourse analysis, Marxist analysis, the comparative method in anthropology (mythology, ethnology); the history of religion; archaeological considerations; linguistics.
This paper explores two significant topics in Naxi history: the mysteries of the genealogical chronicles of the Mu Tusi, and the origins of the Naxi Dongba pictographs. The author analyses the two genealogical chronicles of the Mu Tusi from the perspective of the ethnohistorical method. She argues that the differences in the lists of ancestors, names, dates and number of generations in those two chronicles can be explained in light of the known historical record, comparative mythology and kinship theory. Her conclusions argue for the importance of these documents to the recovery of Naxi history, and in particular the history of the Naxi feudal system, the legitimacy of its successions and territorial appropriations, and Naxi ideological convictions. The discussion will show that from the mid 16th century, the Mu Tusi made a conscious and willing turn towards Confucianism, Chinese civilization and a stricter patrilineal regime, whilst within their realm, they remained attached to more traditional “Naxi” definitions of kingship and ritual. The paper will also show that the Naxi custom of patrilateral cross-cousin marriage begins with the Mu Tusi, and that it is not symptomatic of a shift from matrilineality to patrilineality, or indicative of a historical split between Naxi and Moso, but rather it is indicative of a far reaching political reform that shifted the system of inter-tribal alliances from a matrilateral or bilateral system of marriage to a patrilateral system and played a significant role in transforming Lijiang from a tribal realm to a feudal territory. The author will also argue that the Dongba played a central role in the feudalization of Lijiang and present a theory of the origins of the Dongba scripts and ritual books, in light of this historical proposition.
