 Lijiang, a mystical and idyllic ancient city in the northwest of Yunnan Province, surrounded by the verdant mountains, woven by watercourses and crossed by more than 300 bridges. It is the gateway to northwest Yunnan region, and No.214 national highway traverses the city to Tibet in the north or to Dali City in the south, capital of the autonomous prefecture. The Ancient City of Lijiang has been famous for its typical architectures with different racial features, peculiar flagstone roads, mystic religion, hieroglyph, scripture, dance and sweet ancient music since it was built during the late years of Southern Song Dynasty and the early years of Yuan Dynasty, In addition, it also has long been known world wide for its grandiose snow-covered mountains, the steep gorge, the elegant Mt. Laojun, the clean Lugu Lake, and the colorful and various customs of the minorities. The outside world is amazed at its ancient and simple sense of "identity of Heaven and Human" and surprised by the ancestors of the minorities who built a city without a wall on the beautiful paradise of Lijiang at this southwest borderland. In December of 1997, it was registered on World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee of the UNESCO, and this "city forgotten by gods" was unveiled to the world with its oriental mystery and glamour like a bright diamond hidden in the mountains. Traditions of Naxi Nationality As one of the 56 nationalities in China, the Naxi nationality is very different from the others. First, in the tradition of Naxi people, man is considered the sky whereas woman is the land. The matriarchal clan society of ancient Naxi people has lasted for a long time, and the present women of this minority are still manage the affairs both inside and outside their home, thus the peculiar custom of this ancient city where women in charge of all while men are idle. The marital custom of the Naxi people is peculiar. Men and women don't get married. When a girl is about to fall in love with a man, she will make sheep's eyes at the man when appropriate. Then the man is allowed to spend the nights with the girl, but he must take a straw hat, a knife and a rice ball with him when he starts. The rice ball is for distracting the dog from the girl's house, the knife is used to open the bolt of the girl's room, and the straw hat is hung on the door as a mark that the girl is falling in love and cohabiting with a man. Before day break, the man must leave the girl's room. Usually, a Naxi man can cohabit with several women in his lifetime but cannot cohabite with several women at the same time. And in the Naxi tradition, the grandmother of a family has the last word and uncles are responsible for bringing up of his sisters' children. Mystic Dongba Culture of Naxi Nationality Dongba culture is fairy independent and mysterious as compared to those of other minorities in China. It remained unnoticed until some Dongba scriptures were took to Europe by a French missionary Pere Desgodins and two British in mid19thcentury. Especially, in1920s, botanist Joseph Rock, an Austro-American came to Lijiang and took a massive volume of Dongba manuscripts back home to sell to the museums. This turned Dongba culture a hot subject of study in the west. Nowadays an increasing number of western scholars or enthusiasts keep on coming to explore this mystic culture. I. Dongba Religion Dongba religion worshipped many gods and believed that everything was animate. In its development the religion was influenced by Tibetan Bon, Buddhism, and Taoism. It didn't have a unified organization of temples, but and ample stock of written scripture and complicated ceremonies, which exerted manifold effects on the life of Naxi people. II.Dongba Scripture The manuscripts of Dongba scriptures were written in Dongba hieroglyph. There are so many of them that the exact number is impossible to know. Their content ranges over linguistics, literature, religion, custom, history, art, philosophy, astronomy and calendar, actually an encyclopedia of ancient Naxi people. As part of the ancient civilization of China, Dongba scripture holds great value to study. III.Dongba Hieroglyph It was an amazing creation of Naxi ancestors, a hieroglyph born in the 11th century. In this language, the meaning is conveyed by one or more symbols as a sentence, reading from left to right and from the upper to the lower. As an exceptionally precious heritage, it is "the only living hieroglyph still in use in the present world". Now, Donba pictograph is easily seen everywhere in the ancient city, on the shop's trade mark or brand, in calligraphy or painting, on crafts or little commodities, even on table ares. IV.Naxi Ancient Music This is a classic music wildly popular in Naxi Nationality and extolled as a "living fossil of Chinese music" and the "sound from paradise", one of the oldest survivors in the world. It originated from the music of Taoism about 500-600 years ago. This music has been added the play techniques of Naxi people, featured in playing all the rarely heard works in Tang (618-907A.D) and Song (960-1279A.D) dynasties, the over-100-year old music instruments which cannot find in elsewhere, and the old players who are about 70-80 in age from all walks of life. Now this old, elegant, serious, and folk-rooted music has attracted thousands upon thousands of ears to listen to. Captivating Attractions Nearby The Ancient City of Lijiang is girdled by a host of attractive and wondrous attractions. After experiencing the city, you should not miss the rewarding explorations below because they offer you the mind-blowing landscapes found in the world. I. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain This mountain is 15km north of Lijiang City, a modern oceanic glacier nearest to the equator in Northern Hemisphere, and a state-level tourist site in China. This mountain has 13 peaks extending for 35km from north to south, along side the deepest gorge in the world-the Tiger Leaping Gorge. It is snowcapped all the year, with grandeur and sublime. Fan Steep, its main peak, is 5,596 meters height above sea-level straight piercing the sky. The mountain is precipitous, picturesque, and peculiar, charming with the scenery sites of Yunshan Spruce Meadow, River of White Water, Ganhaizi Lake, Serac Forest, and so forth, to make the mountain a tourists' resort for sight seeing, exploration, scientific survey, or just vacation enjoyment. II.the First Bend of Yangtze River This famous bend formed in Shigu (Stone Drum) Township of Lijiang City when the longest river in China, Yangtze River flows by and makes a sharp turn. Standing near this bend, you can see the green hills, high mountains, beautiful terraced rice field. III.Tiger Leaping Gorge The deepest gorge of the world formed for the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain are cut by Jinsha River. It is 18km north of Lijiang City, between peaks of over 3,000m above the river, which is 80m or more at the widest, or only about 30m at the narrowest, a most dangerous section of Yangtze River about 17km long. At the entrance right in the middle of the river has a lying huge rock, and the rushing water has to squeeze through a 13m passage at both sides. Legend says that tigers often leap to the other side of the river by this rock, thus the gorge earns this name. A more recently discovery is the ancient rock paintings on cliffs of the gorge, which add wonders to the grand gorge of the world. IV.Mt. Laojun At the east side of Mt. Laojun, there is topography of red sandstone of over 200k The Ancient Town of Lijiang, Yunnan – A Forgotten Kingdom is a post from: Traveling China from Traveling China http://www.chinaya.org | |||
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