The Dongba are the shamans or priests of the Naxi people of southwestern China.
Script
Dongba script (a.k.a Tomba or dto-mba) is an ideographic writing system used by the Dongba. It is about a thousand years old, and the only hieroglyphic writing system in use today. It is used solely as an aid to the interpretation of ritual texts during ceremonies.
The script is written on handmade paper, with sheets sown together at the left egde, forming a book. The pages are ruled horizontally with the hieroglyphs written in three or five sections within these rules.
The Ethnologue project claims that it is "not practical for everyday use, but is a system of prompt-illustrations for reciting classic texts", and there are believed to be only three people in Lijiang who are literate in the script.
The term Dongba literally refers to the religious priests, the culture, and the script of the people, which exerts a great influence upon the lives of the Nakhi people, who are found in southwestern China.
This can be evidenced from the fact that the core of the Dongba religion is the based on the belief that both man and nature are two half-brothers born of two mothers and the same father.
The Dongbascript, also known as Tomba or Dto-mba is an ideographic writing system used by the Dongba.
The word Dongba is used for the religious cult and script of the Naxi.
The script is reminiscent of the hieroglyphicscripts of earlier cultures and is perhaps the only pictographic script left in the world which survives true to its original form and which can still be written and read.
Instead the script is used to recount the myths and legends, religious beliefs and history of the Naxi, and it is used to guide the rituals.
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