Naxi culture · Lijiang

Dongba Symbols

Dongba symbols are often described as a pictographic and ideographic system connected with Naxi ritual texts. They were traditionally used by Dongba ritual specialists as prompts for recitation.

The signs may look simple at first: a mountain, a person, an animal, a tool. Yet each mark can hold layered meaning depending on the chant, ceremony or story in which it appears.

In Lijiang today, Dongba symbols also appear in museums, signs, crafts and visual design, forming a bridge between sacred memory and everyday cultural identity.