<$BlogRSDUrl$> Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. Author/Speaker/Consultant
Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. Author/Speaker/Consultant
Internet Happenings, Events and Sources


Wednesday, June 30, 2004  

Rare Pictographic Manuscripts Online
http://www.managinginformation.com/news/content_show_full.php?id=2802

The Naxi people of China's Yunnan Province use the only living pictographic language (similar to ancient Egyptian or Mayan writing) in the world today, and the Library of Congress's collection of Naxi manuscripts is considered the finest in the world. One hundred eighty-five documents plus a 392-foot funerary scroll from that collection are now available online in "Selections from the Naxi Manuscript Collection," which can be found under the link "Individual Digital Collections" at http://international.loc.gov/. The Naxi Kingdom flourished from the eighth century until 1724, when it came under Chinese rule. Naxi priests created the manuscripts on coarse, handmade paper, bound them into booklets, and used them while conducting religious rituals and shamanistic ceremonies. The edges of the manuscripts were burned during the ceremonies so that the resulting smoke would transmit the book's message up to the heavens. Because the sacred books were then either buried with the priests when they died or were burned on their funeral pyre, relatively few Naxi manuscripts are known to be in existence. The Library of Congress's collection of 3,342 Naxi items is the largest outside of China and this is the first time that such a large number of Naxi manuscripts have been cataloged, selectively digitized and put on the Web.

posted by Marcus Zillman | 4:20 AM
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