The Lijiang Ancient City in Yunnan
By admin on 2014-12-15

Lijiang ancient city is the central township in the autonomous county of Naxi minority in Lijiang, Yunan, it is located in the northwest of Yuannan province, the exact geographic coordinate is 100°14′ in east longitude, and 26°52′ in north latitude.

The ancient city is situated in the middle area of the county, which is more than 2400 meters high above sea level. It enjoys beautiful scenes, an indeed famous city with long history and splendid culture; it is very rare in China that such well-preserved minority ancient city still exists.

Lijiang is running across the northwest part of the township, it is because the Gold Sand River passes through here that its name is given (Gold Sand River was originally named as Lijiang). Lijiang's fame comes from the Dayan ancient city on the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Dongba culture of Naxi minority and the Mosuo matrilineal family.

Dayan ancient is known as "Oriental Venis", it is the aggregation area of Naxi minority, with its original status as the transfer station for the goods on their way. Most of the buildings in the city are made of wood and tiles, with the West street as the center, the roads here can lead to virtually place; the city is famous for its water, hence it is famed as "Oriental Venis", and was listed into the "Directory of World Cultural Heritage".

Dongba culture is the essence of Dayan ancient city; it consists of Bajiao, Dongba vocabulary, Dongba religious scriptures, Dongba dance, Dongba soldier and Dongba music. Among them, Dongba religious scripture, which recorded the history and myths of Naxi minority, now is the only hieroglyph exists in the world.

There are more than 20 thousand religious books collected in China and some foreign countries written in Dongba, they are about language and words, rel igion and folk custom, history and literature, astronomy and legislation, philosophy, etc, it is an all-inclusive book, it is known as the "encyclopedia" of ancient Naxi nationality. Dongba music is mainly a kind of tune sung during the activity of sacrifice, along with musical instrument. A trip to the ancient, the best thing to do in the night is to listen to the ancient Naxi music. Half a century ago, a Russian who traveled and lived in Lijiang wrote a book named "A Forgotten Royal Painting" in which he vividly described his feelings upon the music: this is indeed the very classical Chinese music, transcending the time and space, as if it is describing a kind of Utopia like this: what a serene and calm place; it is peaceful and generous.