Dongba symbols
The Dongba, Tomba or Tompa or Mo-so symbols are a system of pictographic glyphs used by the ²dto¹mba (Bon priests) of the Naxi people in southern China.[citation needed] Dongba is largely a mnemonic system, and cannot by itself represent the Naxi language; different authors may use the same glyphs with different meanings, and it may be supplemented with the geba syllabary for clarification.According to Dongba religious fables, the Dongba script was created by the founder of the Bön religious tradition of Tibet, Tönpa Shenrab (Tibetan: ston pa gshen rab) or Shenrab Miwo (Tibetan: gshen rab mi bo),[3] while traditional Naxi genealogies attribute the script to a 13th-century king named Móubǎo Āzōng."[10] The script is also present in modern settings, especially in the Ancient City of Lijiang, where tourists may see Dongba used alongside Chinese and English on business signs and public spaces.Dongba symbols are incorporated into local crafts, souvenirs, and artwork, providing a visual link to Naxi cultural identity.Priests drew detailed pictures to record information, and illustrations were simplified and conventionalized to represent not only material objects but also abstract ideas.
Naxi languageISO 15924pictographic²dto¹mbaNaxi peoplerebusesglyphsmnemonicgeba syllabaryTönpa ShenrabTang dynastySong dynastyDongbaChinese Communist RevolutionCultural RevolutionLijiangritualgeba scriptChineseideographicaspectualDaphne tanguticaNaxi scriptUNESCO PublishingWayback MachineWorld Digital Librarywriting systemsHistory of writingGraphemeundecipheredinventorsconstructedby first written accountsAbjadsNumeralsAramaicHatranArabicElifbaEgyptian hieroglyphsElymaicHebrewAshuriCursiveSolitreoTifinaghMandaicManichaeanNabataeanAncient North ArabianPahlaviInscriptionalInscriptional ParthianPsalterPhoenicianPaleo-HebrewPitman shorthandProto-SinaiticSamaritanSouth ArabianSogdianSyriacTeeline ShorthandUgariticAbugidasBrahmicBengali–AssameseBhaiksukiBrahmi scriptDevanagariGujaratiGurmukhiKaithiKalingaKhojkiKhudabadiLaṇḍāLepchaMahajaniMarchenMeiteiMultaniNagariNandinagariNepalese scriptsBhujimolPracalitRanjanaTamyigTirhutaLitumolKaraniʼPhags-paSharadaSiddhaṃSoyomboSylheti NagriTibetanTocharianZanabazar squareBalineseBaybayinBhattiproluChakmaFakkhamGranthaGoykanadiHanunooJavaneseKadambaKannadaKhom ThaiKulitanLangdiLontaraBilang-bilangMakasarMalayalamOld MaldivianDhives AkuruEveyla AkuruMon–BurmesePallavaSaurashtraSinhalaSukhothai