Three Topics on the Study of Naxi Dongba Culture
This article examines the paired Naxi Dongba concepts "Dong" (董) and "Shen" (沈), often rendered as "lu" and "se." According to the Dongba scripture "Chuang Guo Sha Ba Chu Ci" (斯巴金补汁), Dong and Shen were a brother and sister who survived a primordial flood and became humanity's ancestors through marriage. Because they are male and female spouses, some scholars have equated them directly with the Han Chinese yin-yang concept, treating Dong as yang and Shen as yin. The author argues this equivalence is superficial and inaccurate. Drawing on the scripture "Origin of Dong," the article shows that Dong represents an intrinsic cosmic principle ("li," 理) governing why heaven is heaven, earth is earth, and why all things—stars, plants, humans, houses, crops, livestock—exist and function as they do, analogous to Zhu Xi's "Taiji" as the totality of principle. The author contends Dong and Shen were not originally created simultaneously as a yin-yang pair, since the foundational text and Dongba ritual practices (e.g., the Dong stone) center on Dong alone, without a corresponding Shen counterpart, suggesting Shen's role/origin requires separate reconsideration.
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