Lijiang is cradle of Dongba culture

On Guangyi Street of Lijiang Old Town stands a Naxi Hieroglyphic Art Gallery whose curator, He Runyuan, is an authentic Naxi people. He has been inheriting and spreading the Dongba Culture for 30 years.

In 2016, He Runyuan opened the gallery to exhibit and spread Dongba culture. The Dongba character, also named Naxi pictographs, is one of the oldest hieroglyphics and the only hieroglyphic writing system in the world. Exaggerating, simple and vivid, the Dongba words convey the happiness, openness and tolerance of the Naxi people.

In order to promote Dongba culture, the gallery has also stepped on the tide of online short videos. In January 2019, Dr. Duncan Poupard at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and He Runyuan made a series of video clips called "Let’s learn Naxi" on YouTube and Bilibili.

"This is the first time we’ve made this kind of videos, aiming to let more people know and love the Dongba culture," said He. The gallery also worked with foreign media in South Korea and Japan in producing Dongba programs, while translating foreign periodicals into the Dongba languages.

He Runyuan said a most effective way to conserve cultural heritages is to make creative cultural products. Stationeries and accessories with hieroglyphics were bestsellers among tourists.

"We invited cultural heritage inheritors to write special-made Dongba scriptures for visitors, which turned out to be popular among young people," added He.

Reporting by Wang Yarong and Xia Yi; Trans-editing by Mo Yingyi