The Daba Religion of the Mosuo People and Its Religious Characteristics
This article examines Dabaism, the indigenous primitive religion of the Mosuo people living around Lugu Lake in Yunnan. Transmitted orally rather than through written texts, Dabaist scriptures encode ancient Mosuo cosmology, religious beliefs, production and livelihood customs, and moral values, functioning as an "encyclopedia" of traditional Mosuo culture. The Daba priest, who does not withdraw from ordinary labor and must uphold compassion and moral discipline, serves as ritual officiant and interpreter of the spiritual world, commanding deep social respect. The religion's core beliefs include animism, ancestor worship, nature worship, and a system of spirit/ghost beliefs, historically evolving from three separate practices (divination, exorcism, and fortune-telling) into a unified doctrine. Of an original 113 oral scriptures, only 67 partial texts survive today, categorized into etiquette/customs, epics, sacrificial rites, and exorcism. Due to the absence of a writing system and the historical impact of Tibetan Buddhism, Dabaism faces imminent extinction, underscoring the urgency of documentation, preservation, and study of its role in sustaining Mosuo matrilineal culture and local ecological knowledge.
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