# A Translation and Interpretation of a Dongba-Script Blessing Text
This article presents a translation and annotation of a Naxi Dongba-script blessing text, compiled from the posthumous papers of Li Lin-ts'an by Li Tsai-ch'i. Written in 1943 at Li Zhuang, Sichuan, the blessing was composed by the Dongba priest Hocai for the children (Dong Min, Dong Xing, Dong Ping) of Dong Zuobin, a scholar at Academia Sinica's Institute of History and Philology. Unlike formulaic Dongba liturgical texts, this piece reflects Hocai's personal voice, making it both moving and unusually difficult to interpret, requiring careful analysis of individual characters and idiomatic phrases rather than standard scriptural readings. The article provides a sentence-by-sentence transcription, phonetic notation (Lijiang Dayan dialect), literal gloss, and free translation, invoking Naxi mythological ancestors, Pumi tigers, and lions as metaphors for strength and longevity. The author thanks scholars Yu Suisheng and Wang Shiying for assistance, dedicating the piece to the memory of his father, Dong Zuobin, and Hocai.
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