Lijiang Tours | Shangrila Tours | Yunnan Attractions | Car Rental | Yunnan Travel Tools | Yunnan Hotels
Location:Yunnan Adventure Travel:Yunnan Trip-Yunnan Tours-China Tours-China Travel >> Yunnan Overview >> Yunnan Ethnic Minorities >> Naxi Ethnic Minority

Naxi Ethnic Minority

Population and Distribution:
The people of the Naxi ethnic minority mostly live in the Naxi Autonomous County in Lijiang, Yunnan Province, while the rest live in Sichuan and Tibet. Their population is 308,893 according to the 2000 census. In the name Naxi (also spelled Nakhi), Na means senior and honored and Xi means people.

Language and Character:
The Naxi language belongs to the Tibetan-Burman group of the Sino-Tibetan phylum. In the past, they used a pictographic language called 'Dongba' and another called 'Geba'. In 1957, they designed characters based on the Latin alphabet and now most can write in Chinese. The Dongba Scripture (or Dongba Jing) that their ancestors left has recorded all facets of the Naxi life and is highly valued for posterity as a means of studying their character and history.

Religion:
Before the foundation of modern China in 1949, most of the Naxi held the faiths of Dongba Jiao, believing that all have spirits and those spirits could never die. When they encountered significant events such as marriage, death, festivals, or disasters, they would invite a wizard to chant. Although there was Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity being taught there, few Naxi people turned to those religions.

Life Styles:
The Naxi people live on farming, stockbreeding and handicrafts. Reaches of the Jinshajiang River is abundant in botanical resources such as trees and medicinal herbs. The Lijiang horse has also enjoyed the reputation for years of one of the 'Three treasures of Lijiang' which were presented to the official courts because of its ability to transport goods in mountainous area.

The Naxi's breakfast is simple and usually consists of steamed bread, but lunch and supper are often more sumptuous. They like to pickle pork. The pickled Pipa pork is famous for lasting several years.

Festivals:
Based on the lunar calendar, the main Naxi festivals are Spring Festival, Pure Brightness, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Torch Festival. Generally, these festivals are celebrated with worship and sacrificial activities.

Other Customs:
The Naxi people are warm and kind. After a hunt, they will share a piece of the kill with a casual passerby. When visited, they will prepare six or eight delicious dishes to treat their guests. Most of the young Naxi people insist that they have one spouse and usually they have a very complicated process to protect their monogamous marriage. But for those living beside Luguhu Lake in Lijiang, they still keep the 'walking' marriage which is the only remaining vestige of a matrilineal clan among all the ethnic groups of China.

  • A nationality that still has pictographic characters 04/15 17:52

    The Naxi nationality has very long history. The ancient Qiang people who roved around as a nomad in valleys of the Huanghe River and the Huangshui River in Qinghai Province passed through many places to the South and moved to the Southwestern Sichuan and the Northwestern Yunnan. They broke up into different nationalities, and the Naxis are one of them. Because of the same pronunciation with different writings, the Naxis are called Mosha, Moxie, Mosuo, etc in Chinese historical records.

  • The old Lijiang County has many scenic spots 04/15 17:49

    There are many historical remains and natural scenes everywhere in the Naxi region. The old Lijiang County, which is listed by the TSCO of the UN as a world cultural heritage, is actually a county without wall, and for thousand of years it has welcomed guests from all directions with open heart. The Sifang Street is the center of the county; four main paths stretch out connecting with small netted lanes, which is like a huge maze.

  • The old Dongba culture 04/15 17:47

    The Dongba culture has a history of over thousand of years, and it is one of the rare treasures in Chinese national culture. The Dongba character is the only living pictographic character in the world. Over 20,000 books of the Dongba Classics were written with it, and the books contain every aspect of natural science and social science, which are encyclopedias handed down by the Naxis from ancient times.

  • The Mosos near the Lugu Lake 04/15 17:45

    The Yongning Naxis call themselves Moso. Until today, strong matriarchy custom in marriage and family is still kept, so people call their habitation female kingdom or daughters kingdom. In typical Moso family structure before, the family only included relatives of the mothers blood lineage---the maternal grandmother and her sisters and brothers, mother and her sisters and brothers, and mothers children and mothers sisters children. The father was regarded as an outsider.

  • Dangmeikongpu & mule-and-horse trade in July 04/15 17:41

    The mule and horse trade in July is another traditional festival for the Naxis. The Naxis have had a fine tradition of raising horses since ancient times. Their horse caravans used to exist for several hundreds of years without decline, and they reached near places like Dali and Kunming and far places like Lahsa in Xizang. In the 15th year of the Hongwu time in Ming Dynasty, the local headman Mude of Lijiang went to Nanjing for himself and paid Lijiang horse as tribute to the emperor, and the Lijiang horse was well-known since then.

  • Cape with seven stars 04/15 17:38

    They cover a woolen or cloth sleeveless jacket out of the garment, wear long trousers (the edge of the legs is not sewed up) and wrap their lower legs with girdles. They wear embroidered boat-shaped shoes with stitching embroidery figures, the instep of which is made of flannelette and the sole is made of leather. They wear socks or wrap bandages only on New Years Day or other festivals.
1 Total:1 Pages
See all sites
Find your Facebook friends here!
Get trip advice from your friends

Discover the places your friends have visited around the world.

Go