The Development of Naxi Dongba Script as Seen Through Differences in Variant Characters
This article examines the developmental trajectory of Naxi Dongba pictographic script through analysis of its variant characters (yiti zi). Drawing primarily on Fang Guoyu's "Naxi Pictograph Character Compendium," supplemented by other reference materials, the author compares and synthesizes numerous variant forms to reveal patterns of script evolution. Unlike Chinese characters, which underwent repeated historical standardization, Dongba script has never been formally regularized, leaving many variants coexisting in transmitted texts without reliable dating—making chronological study difficult but also preserving a more "primitive" state useful for understanding early writing systems. The paper focuses on changes in symbolic form (zifu tizhi), showing how variants shift from picture-like, detailed representations toward more abstract, linear, and simplified sketch forms (e.g., stroke simplification, three-dimensional images becoming linear, curves straightened), and discusses "additive changes" involving dots, shading, and lines as key expressive devices. The study argues that such analysis of Dongba variants complements what Chinese character history cannot show about the development of pictographic/proto-writing systems.
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