The Artistic Use of the Human Figure in Dongba Pictographic Script
This article examines the artistic use of the human figure in Dongba pictographic script of the Naxi people, one of the few pictographic writing systems still in use today. The authors note that over 240 characters—about 25% of all Dongba characters—derive from or incorporate the human form, spanning nouns, verbs, and adjectives. The study identifies four artistic techniques by which this basic human shape is transformed into diverse characters: (1) line variation, altering stroke direction and curvature (e.g., "grandson," "sit," "jump," "dance," "crawl," "fall," "beg"); (2) artistic exaggeration; (3) added distinguishing bodily features; and (4) combination of body forms. Through concrete character examples, the paper demonstrates how these four methods—developed both independently and interactively—constitute a "secondary artistic use" of the human figure, generating over 200 characters from a single pictograph. The authors argue this reflects Naxi people's ingenuity and offers insight into Naxi history, customs, and artistic development.
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