Naxi Dongba manuscript, Yunnan, mid 19th century. The remarkable Dongba script, both pictographic and ideographic, is the only largely hieroglyphic script to have survived into the 20th century. Used by Naxi priests, it's associated with the Bön religious tradition of Tibet. 1/
This Naxi manuscript in Dongba script was collected around Yerkalo (Yanjing in Chinese) by the French missionary and naturalist Monseigneur Felix Marie Biet (1838-1901) in the period 1865 to 1878 when he was stationed there, prior to his appointment as Bishop in July 1878. 2/
Another Naxi pictographic 納西象形文字 manuscript collected by Biet in the 1870's. Use of the script was reserved for Dongba priests, primarily for ritual purposes. The books were recited by a Dongba during the performance of religious ceremonies such as funerary rites. 3/
Dongba is both pictographic and ideographic. There are about a 1000 glyphs, but this number is fluid as new glyphs are coined. Priests drew pictures to record information, which were simplified & conventionalized to represent not only material objects but also abstract ideas. 4/
The best English language resource on the Naxi Dongba pictographic script is Joseph Rock's "A Na-Khi-English Encyclopedic Dictionary", (Serie Orientale Roma XXVIII) 2 volumes, published 1963-1972. 5/
More on the remarkable linguist Joseph Rock here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Ro….
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