On Female Worship in Dongba Religion and Its Evolution
This article examines female worship in Dongba, the traditional religion of the Naxi people, tracing its formation through a long historical process now overlaid with patriarchal ideology. By analyzing distinct historical-cultural strata within Dongba scriptures, the author reconstructs the evolving status of women. Early Dongba pictographic epics—such as "Chongbandu" (Human Migration), "Dongbaishuai" (Black-White War), "Xiuquishuai," "Mengesu," and "Lubanlurao"—prominently feature female protagonists, reflecting primitive fertility and mother-goddess worship widespread across ancient cultures (from East Asia to Western Europe), including Chinese myths of Nüwa and Xiwangmu and ethnic minority goddess cults. Drawing on Engels' theory of production and reproduction, the article argues women's prehistoric prestige derived from their roles as reliable food producers (gathering, early agriculture) and as bearers of reproduction, crucial to clan survival, alongside their perceived spiritual and divinatory powers, establishing the basis for later goddess worship in Dongba tradition.
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