An Exploration of the Archivization of Dongba Culture
This article examines Naxi Dongba culture from the perspective of archival science, proposing that Dongba culture—understood broadly as encompassing Dongba religion, script, scriptures, painting, crafts, music, dance, divination, and ritual—can and should be "materialized" (物化) into archival records. Facing modern civilization's threats to this living cultural heritage, the authors argue that beyond safeguarding elder Dongba practitioners and training successors, archival preservation offers a crucial supplementary path, since archives fix and preserve social memory beyond individual lifespans. The authors critique prior research for narrowly focusing on Dongba scripture texts, advocating instead for expanding the framework from "Dongba script/scripture archives" to a broader "Dongba culture archives," reflecting archives' dual nature as both records-control mechanisms and evidentiary information entities. Under this expanded view, diverse documents and materials reflecting Dongba culture qualify as Dongba archives. The paper concludes by discussing the value and function of such archives in transmitting Dongba culture to future generations, broadening previous scholarly boundaries in this field.
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