Naxi Minority

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Naxi Minority

• Naxi Autonomous County
• Yunnan Province

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• 394,000 sq. km. of which 370,000 is mts.
• 25 of China's 56 ethnic minorities live there

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The Naxi Minority

• 308,800 population 160,000 live in Lijiang
  Naxi Autonomous County, in Ninglang,
  Zhongdian, Yongsheng, and Deqin counties.
• Some also in Sichuan Province in Yanyuan and
  Muli counties.
• Smallest group in Markam County of Tibet
  Autonomous Region.

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Lijiang Old Town

• Old Town of Lijiang more than 800 years old
• 1997 World Heritage List

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Naxi Houses
Naxi on the plains build their houses with
earth and wood and cover the roofs with tiles.
3-bedroom house and a screen wall in front of
the door of the 3 bedrooms the central one has a
higher ceiling than the other two. Screen
wall stands in front of the door leading into the
central room eaves of the house slant upward
Walls lean inward in order to make the structure
more stable.
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Naxi Women

• Remnant of a matriarchal society men women
  are not bound by marriage.
• Women wear seven-star shawl.

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Video 1

• Our guide Ariel in her seven-star shawl at
  Tiger Leaping Gorge.

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Legend of Ying Gu

• Drought Demon came and brought eight killer
  suns
• Ying Gu made a sunshade out of aquatic bird
  feathers and sought help from the Dragon King
  from the blue East Sea.
• King sent his son, the Dragon Prince, to
  help-he brought cooling rains.

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• Dragon Prince was captured by the Drought
  Demon.
• Ying Gu put on sunshade wrap and substituted
  herself for the Dragon Prince
• She fought for nine days and nights
• God of Mercy, Beishi Sandong made a snow
  dragon to help people

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• Snow Dragon ate seven burning suns and spat
  them out after they had cooled off.
• Eighth sun was left to become the moon.
• Snow Dragon held the Demon down with his
  body.
• Demon turned into a mountain and Dragon Prince
  turned into a limpid spring.

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• Beishi Sandong molded seven bright stars out
  of the cooled seven suns and put them in
  Ying Gu's sunshade wrap as a symbol of her
  diligence, courage and wisdom.

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Seven-star-shawl

• made of sheepskin one shoulder has sun,
  other has moon,
• seven patches with star embroidered on in
  silk with white leather thong through the
  star,
• the shawl is called the "canopy of the moon
  stars"--represents the hard work of the Naxi
  women who toil from sunrise to sunset,
• use shawl as a cushion for the back when they
  are carrying a load.

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Naxi Religion
The religion is related to the Dongba
culture a mixture or early Naxi witchcraft
Tibetan culture.
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Video 2

• Dongba dance--a kind of martial arts
  swordsmanship.
• They are known for their classical music
  integration of poetry, music dance.

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Pictographic Language

• They have a primitive writing system of 2,000
  characters.
• This is the only living pictographic language
  .

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Photos by Li PingYang
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South Silk Road

• Border trade between Tibet and Yunnan was
  suspended 1949-1978.
• The Tea Horses Road is once again open for
  trade when the military is not conducting
  maneuvers.

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Credits

• Freeman Foundation for travel grant.
• Kent Riley and Mindy Zhang for itinerary and
  arrangements.
• Yen-Ching Huang for powerpoint presentation.
• Some photos in Lijiang from Ron Gilbert.

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Sources

• Lecture Powerpoint Presentation in
• Kunming by Prof. Liu of Economic Inst.
• of Yunnan University.
• In Search of Chinas Minorities by Zheng
• Weiwen and Zeng Qingnan. Beijing
• New World Press, 1993. pp. 198-203.
• Ethnic Groups in China. Publication of
• China Basic Series, China Intercontinental
• Press 2004.5 by Wang Can translated by
• Wang Pingxing.
• Notes from Dongba Palace Performance 6/06.