Ethnic Arts
This article investigates Dongba-script couplets, a literary form used by the Naxi people of Lijiang, Yunnan. Based on field research and consultation with local Dongba culture experts, the author traces the origin of these couplets to parallel/antithetical sentences already present in Naxi oral proverbs and Dongba scriptures, though true "couplets" as a genre emerged only about 130–140 years ago, evidenced by tombstone inscriptions and accounts of early writers like He Minkui and He Siquan. Over the past decade, Dongba couplets have developed rapidly and can be classified into three major categories, serving five functions: Spring Festival couplets, scenic-spot couplets, dedication couplets, decorative couplets, and advertisement couplets. Structurally, their antithetical techniques closely resemble Chinese couplets, but Dongba couplets disregard tonal patterning, sometimes differ in word order, employ borrowed characters, allow multiple graphic forms for one meaning, and lack fixed placement conventions for the paired scrolls.
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