Dongba Culture in Mosuo Villages
This article by Sun Qingzhong introduces Youmi, a remote Moso (Naxi subgroup "Ruanke") village in Ninglang County, Yunnan, located along the Wuliang River valley near the Jinsha River. Despite having only about 405 residents in 83 households, the village sustains nine Dongba priests who perform rituals to dispel disasters and transmit Dongba culture—an unusually high concentration for such a small community. The piece traces the village's long history as a subject of scholarly attention, beginning with Joseph Rock's 1928 expedition and continuing through researchers like Li Lin-Ts'an, Zhan Chengxu, and later linguists documenting endangered Naxi scripts. Drawing on six field visits between 2018 and 2021 with the "Farmers' Seed Network," the author describes participating in a disaster-dispelling ritual and the Zhuanshan (mountain-circling) Festival, noting the village holds over 400 ritual ceremonies annually, earning it the description "a village of rituals." The article explores Dongba culture's significance for rural development.
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