What are the customs and habits of the Naxi people?

The Naxi ethnic group is descended from the ancient Qiang people. They migrated south from the Hehuang area in the northwest and merged with the indigenous people. Due to the differences in Naxi dialects, there are many self-titles such as Naxi, Na, Nari, Nahan, and Naruo. There are slight differences in the pronunciation of these names, but the basic clan names are all "Na"; and Xi, Heng, Han, and Ri all mean "people". Other names for the Naxi people in Chinese literature include Moze, Mosuo or Moze ("some" is pronounced as "suō"). So what are the customs and habits of the Naxi people? WeChat name

The Naxi people believe in Dongba religion, Tibetan Buddhism and other religions. The Naxi people in Lijiang also generally believe in the "Three Flowers" god and have become a nation with multiple beliefs. Dongba religion is a unique religion of the Naxi people. Dongba culture is named after it is preserved in Dongba religion. It mainly includes Dongba characters, Dongba scriptures, Dongba paintings, Dongba music, Dongba dances, Dongba ritual instruments and various sacrificial rituals.

It is generally believed that the Naxi people have two traditional scripts: Dongba script and Geba script. Dongba Script (Naxi hieroglyphics): It is a hieroglyphic script that has both ideographic and phonetic components. The writing form is more primitive than Oracle Bone Script. It is believed to be the only hieroglyphic still alive in the world. Dongba paper, the carrier of Dongba characters, was a paper used exclusively by Dongba in ancient times and used to write Dongba characters. The craftsmanship is purely manual workshop, and only the Dongba characters produced in this workshop are original and full of charm. Dongba paper was invented and homemade by the ancestors of Teacher He Shengwen 300 years ago. After it was lost for more than 10 years, Teacher He resumed the production of Dongba paper, and developed calligraphy and painting paper, mounting, and high-end business cards on the basis of tradition. , embossed bookmarks, embossed grass-sealed movable surface Tibetan scripture paper and other series. Its exquisite craftsmanship, texture and insect-proof characteristics are well received by users at home and abroad.

The Naxi people originally believed in Dongba religion, Lamaism wood and natural gods such as heaven, earth, mountains and water, and used the lunar calendar to record the year. Many festivals, such as the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, etc., are roughly the same as those of the local Han people. Among them, the Spring Festival is the largest traditional festival and is accompanied by many sacrificial activities. At that time, every family will slaughter the New Year pig, make sour liver, and brew rice wine. On New Year's Eve, chickens are killed and pig heads are stewed to offer sacrifices to the kitchen god and ancestors. When dining, if someone in the family goes out, bowls and chopsticks should also be placed on the dining table to express the reunion of the whole family.

The most solemn one is the "Naxi Heaven Sacrifice Festival". The Heaven Sacrifice Festival is usually held in the first and middle days of the first lunar month. At that time, the sacrifice site must be chosen, and it will be taught by the leader of the Dongba Sect (without a leader). In each village, a respected old man is elected as the priest. In each program, Dongba sings the corresponding scripture poems for worshiping heaven. Together, there are nearly ten thousand lines, forming a magnificent long song of worshiping heaven. The pigs that are fed in turn are slaughtered, and each household donates barley and wheat to make wine and bait. The love of a third party

The Naxi people in the Lijiang Dam area in the past were deeply influenced by Han culture due to Yongzheng's policy of returning natives to rural areas in 1723. They also practiced monogamy and parental arrangement in marriage. The institution of marriage. The marriage of children is decided by their parents, and is arranged by a matchmaker, who hires them with cattle, sheep, pigs, and wine. Marriage pays attention to the traditional ethics of the Han people, such as being from the right family, the three obediences and the four virtues, and the husband singing and the wife following suit. There are many marriages between Naxi people in Lijiang and Han and Tibetan people. Within the same ethnic group, people of the same surname and different clans can intermarry, but marriage between people of the same family is absolutely prohibited. Getting married generally involves the process of getting engaged, having a drink, and holding a wedding ceremony.

Most of the social interactions between Naxi men and women take place during festivals. After young men and women get to know each other, through a matchmaker, and after the parents of both parties have completed their horoscopes, the man will ask the matchmaker to give the woman two bottles of tea and four or six boxes of sugar. , two liters of rice, and in some places, two weights of salt are added to express the eternal vows. It is considered an engagement. A wedding banquet must be arranged during the engagement. The wedding will last 3-5 days, and both the man and the woman must prepare a banquet. There are eight people on the table and eight people at the bottom. The groom kneels down to invite the guests to take their seats, and then plays music and serves the dishes. When the third course is served, the officiant proposes a toast; when the fifth course is served, the bridegroom and the bride toast two glasses to the guests. liquor. After the banquet, the host and his relatives should stand outside the door to close the guests.

In some Naxi areas, there is still a legacy of "robbing marriages". This is also a legacy of ancient marriage customs, reflecting women's resistance to the patriarchal system of living with their husbands. The wife wants to adhere to the old tradition and live in her mother's house, so the man uses robbery to realize his desire to keep his wife in her husband's house. "Marriage robbery" in modern society is just a form. It is not a real robbery, but a tacit understanding between men and women, in order to use "raw rice and mature rice" to deal with the woman's parents who have objections to the marriage.

The Naxi people value trust and loyalty, and generally do not care about the faults caused by guests who do not understand the customs and etiquette of the Naxi people. However, they value equality and credibility. Therefore, what are the best requirements when interacting with the Naxi people? Can explain directly, cannot deceive or deceive. In ordinary houses, guests are usually entertained under the eaves during the day, and in the main hall at night. If it's in a wooden house, it's by the firepit. Although there is no strict distinction between seats, there is a distinction between old and young, and distinction between men and women. For example, if it is at the dining table or beside the fire pit, its upright position is called "Shang Ba Si" or "Ge Lulu", which is the priority seat for the elderly. Therefore, when you go to a Naxi home, as long as there are old people there, even if the host invites you, you must give up the "upper eight seats" to the old people. When eating, you should first invite the old people and elders to sit down, and you must not take the initiative to occupy them. If an elderly person comes in, young people should stand up and give up their seats and greet them proactively. When there are elderly people, don’t cross your legs.

Sit upright when receiving guests or eating. Avoid making loud noises, guessing and giving orders, and do not step on the table rungs. When the host is toasting cigarettes, wine, or serving rice, he should touch each other with both hands and express his gratitude. gratitude. When eating, avoid sticking chopsticks vertically in the rice (precisely because chopsticks stuck in the rice will appear when the dead are offering incense), avoid knocking the bowl and chopsticks, avoid turning dishes, and avoid picking up dishes one after another. Generally, when picking up food, you should ask others to move their chopsticks together, pick it up once, stop for a while, and wait for the first bite to be swallowed before picking up the second chopstick. Pay attention to economy and do not waste food. It’s not good to leave leftover rice at the bottom of the bowl.

If you sit on a two-person stool, you are not allowed to enter the girl's "flower house" in the Lugu Lake area, and it is not easy to ask about "Axia"'s condition. Don't stir up the ashes in the stove. When offering sacrifices to heaven, ancestors, or the God of War, outsiders are not allowed to watch. It is forbidden to step across the "land" stone and "color" stone erected at the gate, and it is forbidden to step across the fire pit. Young people are not allowed to take off their shoes by the fire pit to dry their feet. When warming up by the fire pit, I heard "Fire Laughter" and asked for more firewood, which meant making money. It is forbidden to sit on the threshold or eat by the stove on the eaves, and it is forbidden to chop things on the threshold with a knife or ax. Love songs are not allowed to be sung at home, and children are not allowed to play with unburned sticks or coals. First, it is dangerous, and second, they are said to have nightmares. Father-in-law is not allowed to enter the daughter-in-law's bedroom.

When someone goes on a long trip or goes out to do business, they cannot sweep the floor with others. They cannot sweep the floor after the sun goes down. The floor cannot be swept while guests are present. Do not close the door immediately when the guest leaves. Guests should be sent to the door. It is not advisable to dry women's underwear in public, and do not dry pants or skirts above the passageway where the owner enters and exits. Avoid wearing a bamboo hat into the house, and avoid carrying a hoe into the kitchen.

When you light a fire and go home at night, avoid lighting the fire into the house. When returning home at night, enter the fire pit room first and avoid entering the bedroom first. In the morning, avoid talking about the dreams you had at night. Pregnant women cannot climb fruit-bearing trees or step over reins or fishing poles. Avoid eating meat without blood. It is prohibited to pollute water sources and cut down water source forests. Avoid adding food or water to others with your backhand. Avoid drinking leftover wine or tea that others have drunk.

Those who participate in the "Sacrifice to Heaven" or the "Three Flowers Festival" must clean their hands beforehand and step over the fireworks set off by azalea branches to show their cleansing. It is taboo not to wash your feet on New Year's Eve, and it is taboo to wash the dishes and chopsticks used for the reunion dinner. It is forbidden to leave a married daughter in her parents’ home on New Year’s Eve. On the morning of the first day of the first lunar month, it is forbidden for strangers to enter the house, and it is forbidden for women to get up early. Historically, the Naxi people believed in Dongba religion, a primitive religion with nature worship as its main material.

Naxi Nationality----Introduction:

The Naxi nationality mainly live in Lijiang Naxi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, and the rest are distributed in Weixi, Zhongdian, Ninglang, Deqin and Sichuan Yanbian, Yanyuan, Muli and Zhikang counties in Tibet. The Naxi people were originally a branch of the ancient Qiang people in northwest China. They migrated to Lijiang and settled in the Lijiang area around the third century AD.

The Naxi people speak Naxi language, which belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibeto-Burman family of the Sino-Tibetan language family and is divided into two dialects: Eastern and Western. With the Jinsha River as the boundary, there are about 200,000 people in the west, and they can communicate with each other; the east is divided into three parts, each with its own dialect, and it is difficult to communicate with each other.

As early as more than a thousand years ago, the Naxi people created the ancient primitive hieroglyphics-Dongba script and a syllabic script Goba script, which are rare in the world and are still circulating today. Folk living hieroglyphs. The classics written in this script are called "Dongba Sutra". China has about 9,000 volumes and other countries in the world have about 11,000 volumes. In 1957, a pinyin script based on the Latin alphabet was designed, and now Chinese is commonly used.

The Naxi people are mainly engaged in agricultural production, growing rice, corn, potatoes, wheat, beans, cotton, and hemp. Both sides of the Jinsha River are forest areas; the Yulong Mountain Area has many plant species and is known as a plant treasure house. The handicraft industry has also developed, and "Lijiang Horse" is famous throughout the country.

Now there are small and medium-sized enterprises in machinery repair, coal mining, power generation, fertilizer, electrical machinery, light industry and other fields. Both sides of the Jinsha River produce a variety of medicinal materials and specialty products.

The Naxi Nationality - History

The Naxi Nationality is an ancient ethnic group in China and a branch of the ancient Qiang people who migrated south. The name Naxi comes from the name of a tribe of ancient fashionable people. Their ancestors were called "Mosayi" and "Mojie" in the historical records of the Jin Dynasty, which means "cattle herders". They first moved southward to the upper reaches of the Minjiang River, then moved southwestward to the Yalong River Basin, and then moved westward to the upper reaches of the Jinsha River. In the Tang Dynasty, they gathered in Lijiang and Yongning, and were successively ruled by Tubo (Tibetan people) and Nanzhao (ancestors of the Yi and Bai people). During the Three Kingdoms period, there were already internal class divisions. In the early Tang Dynasty, the Yue Jizhao (Moxi Zhao) was established, which was one of the six imperial edicts. It was later destroyed by the Nanzhao. The rulers of Nanzhao once moved tens of thousands of Mozi people to the Kunchuan area. These Mozi people later merged with the Bai people. In the early Ming Dynasty, many Han Chinese who guarded the border also integrated into the Naxi people. From the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, some chiefs were successively awarded the hereditary feudal chieftain official position by the central dynasty, and the areas under their jurisdiction have basically entered the stage of development of the feudal lordship system. Especially after the implementation of "reforming land and returning people to local people" in the early Qing Dynasty, the feudal society of the Naxi people developed further. After the founding of New China, the people must be renamed Naxi according to the will of the nation. The Naxi people have created a splendid national culture in the development process of their own nation. Dongba script, produced in the 7th century AD, is the only hieroglyphic script still in use in the world. The Dongba Sutra, a classic of Dongba religion written in Dongba script, is a valuable material for studying the social development history of the Naxi people.

The Naxi people - Etiquette

The Naxi people attach great importance to interpersonal relationships, emotional exchanges, adversity and hardship, and pay attention to etiquette. Respecting the elderly and loving the young is a virtue of the Naxi people. The elderly have a high status in the family and are highly respected. Whenever there are natural or man-made disasters, weddings or funerals, relatives, friends and neighbors will take the initiative to help, regardless of remuneration. Hospitality is a traditional virtue of the Naxi people. Whenever they return from hunting, all passers-by who meet on the road can get a share of the prey. When a distinguished guest comes, the host will cook six or eight dishes to entertain him. If a guest comes to the village or home, men, women, old and young will get up to say hello and offer their seats enthusiastically. At home, young people should take care of the elderly before eating and sleeping, and should bring water to wash their faces and feet. This virtue is passed down from generation to generation.

The Naxi people----Festivals

The Naxi people record the year according to the lunar calendar. The main festivals are the "March Dragon King Temple Fair", the "Mila Hui" (i.e. Bangbang Festival) on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Lijiang July Fair held in the middle of July in the lunar calendar, also known as the "July Mule and Horse Fair", etc. Many festivals, such as the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, etc., are roughly the same as those of the local Han people. The Spring Festival is the largest traditional festival and is accompanied by many sacrificial activities.

In addition to the New Year Festival, the Naxi people also have many sacrificial activities. The most solemn among them is the "Naxi Heaven Sacrifice Festival". The Heaven Sacrifice Festival is usually held in the first and middle days of the first lunar month. At that time, a site for the Heaven Sacrifice must be selected, the head of the Dongba Religion will serve as the priest, and the Heaven Sacrifice Pigs that are fed in turn will be slaughtered. , every household has to donate barley and wheat to make wine and bait. During the sacrifice, a large sacrifice of whole animals is used, and everyone present must wash their hands and hold incense and stand in awe. After the sacrifice, pig blood enema, pig head, and offal are used to make soup. After the soup is cooked, it is eaten according to the household. Three days after the big sacrifice, small sacrifices will be held on a per-household basis. There is also "sacrifice to Sanduo (the protector god of the tribe)". The Naxi people believe that Sanduo belongs to the sheep. Every year on February 8th and August Sheep Day, whole sheep are sacrificed. The Naxi people in Lijiang area also sacrifice Sanduo. Take your hot pot to a scenic place for a picnic.

On the 25th day of the seventh lunar month, the Mosuo people hold an event to worship the Goddess Mountain. This is a mass festival with primitive religious colors. On this day, people dressed in costumes gather under the Lion Mountain to burn incense, lamas recite the pilgrimage sutra, people offer wine, meat and fruits to the goddess, and kowtow in worship.

The Beiyue Temple Fair on the eighth day of February is called "Sacrifice to Sanduo" in Naxi language. This is also a traditional festival for the Naxi people to worship "Sanduo", the protector of the nation or the god of war. Beiyue Temple was named because Yulong Mountain was named Beiyue during the Nanzhao period, and Sanduo Temple was built at the foot of Yulong Mountain. According to legend, a hunter in ancient times found a strange snow stone on Yulong Mountain and carried it home. When he reached the current temple site, he found that the snow stone was unusually heavy, so he stopped to rest. If you want to carry it on your back again, the snow and stones are too heavy to move. People think this is the incarnation of the god, so they build a temple on the spot to offer sacrifices. From then on, people often see a man wearing white armor, wearing a white helmet, holding a white spear, and riding a white horse. The gods often appear to protect the land and people there. The Naxi people believe that Sanduo is the largest and most authoritative god of their nation and belongs to the zodiac of sheep. Every year on the eighth day of February and the eighth day of the eighth lunar month, a whole sheep is used as a solemn sacrifice.

During the temple fair, it is the time when the camellia flowers first bloom, and there will be huge crowds of people. Fireworks filled the air, flowers bloomed everywhere, people had picnics and believers burned incense and kowtowed. The grandness and atmosphere of this temple fair rank first among all temple fairs and festivals in Lijiang.

The Naxi people - marriage customs

The Naxi people in Yongning call themselves "Mosuo". To this day, they still retain matriarchal customs in marriage and family. In the typical Mosuo family structure in the past, there were only relatives of maternal blood - grandmother and her brothers and sisters, mother and her brothers and sisters, mother's biological children and biological children of mother's sisters. The biological father was regarded as an outsider. In family life, women have a prominent position, and the head of the household is held by the woman with the highest rank. She is also the host of religious rituals in the family. The blood lineage of a family is calculated on the maternal line, and property is inherited on the matrilineal principle.

The marriage system that is suitable for this kind of matrilineal family is commonly called "Azhu" marriage. "Azhu" means "friend" and "companion". The main characteristics of this kind of marriage are: men do not marry and women do not marry. Young men and women of different matrilineal origins can choose their sweethearts according to their own preferences and wishes. As long as they are happy with each other, they will give each other gifts such as bracelets and belts, and start living together as couples. Since they gave birth and lived in two families respectively, the man had to visit the woman's house after nightfall, and then hurriedly returned to his mother's house early the next morning. Children born to cohabitants bear the mother's surname and are raised by the mother's family. Men do not have any rights or obligations towards their children. Since this type of marriage and family has no necessary connection in economic and other aspects, the man and woman can divorce very freely. As long as the woman refuses to visit or the man stops visiting, the "Azhu" marriage will be over.

Nasi Nationality----Clothes

The Naxi Nationality are deeply influenced by the Han Nationality. Men's clothing is basically the same as that of the Han Nationality, wearing long robes, mandarin jackets or double-breasted shorts, and trousers. Women's clothing, except for the custom of wearing skirts that still continues in some places, has been changed to trousers, but the entire costume. It still has distinctive national characteristics. Lijiang women wear wide-waisted, heavily embroidered coats, with the front panel reaching the knees and the back panel reaching the shins, plus a waistcoat, trousers, a pleated apron, and boat-shaped embroidered shoes. Most of the clothes are blue, white, and black, with lace embroidery on the collar, sleeves, and lapels, which are simple and elegant. Married women tie their hair in a bun on their head and wear a round gauze cap, while unmarried women tie their hair in a bun on the back of their head and wear a cloth scarf or a black velvet cap.

The most distinctive feature of Naxi women's clothing is the seven-star sheepskin shawl behind them. On the shawl are seven embroidered circles with a diameter of about two inches nailed side by side, with a pair of hanging tassels in each circle. There are many different theories about the origin of this costume. The more common saying is that it represents seven stars, which means "covering the stars and wearing the moon". It is said that the round cloth circle is embroidered with silk thread to represent the exquisite star map, and the hanging fringe represents the light of the stars. Legend has it that in ancient times, a hard-working, capable, smart and beautiful Naxi girl named Yinggu fought with the Drought Demon. After nine days of fighting, she collapsed from exhaustion and died. In order to commend Yinggu for her bravery, the three gods in Baisha subdued the Drought Demon and swallowed it. The seven cold suns below were pinched into seven round stars and set on Yinggu's top sun shirt. Later, the Naxi girl imitated Yinggu and nailed the seven-star pattern on her shawl, symbolizing the hard work and bravery of wearing the stars and the moon. There is also a theory that the Naxi people have regarded frogs as gods of wisdom since ancient times and can help people in trouble. Therefore, those circular patterns represent the eyes of frogs, which is a historical relic of frog totem worship.

The Naxi people----diet

The Naxi people eat three meals a day. Breakfast is usually steamed buns or stewed cakes. Lunch and dinner are more plentiful, usually including one or two stir-fried vegetables, pickles, soup, etc. Personally, they like to eat the local Hui beef soup pot and dried beef. Whether in Pingba or in mountainous areas, there are many varieties of vegetables, which are available in all seasons. In mountainous areas, potatoes, cabbage and melons are widely grown, and local specialties are used to make various famous dishes. Such as: Steamed Cordyceps Duck, Fritillary Chicken, Gastrodia Chicken, etc. Among them, the traditional Naxi dish "stuffed matsutake" is a special dish made with matsutake mushroom caps, stuffed with meat paste, steamed and used as a sacrifice, especially to worship ancestors.

In ancient times, the Naxi people’s staple food was beef, mutton, yak meat, wheat, dried barnyard grass, and garden roots (vine leaves). Later, under the influence of the Han and Bai people, agriculture developed rapidly and some changes in living customs also occurred. Corn, wheat, and rice are the staple foods in the Lijiang Dam area. Lugu Lake. The Naxi people in Zhongzhong, Yanyuan, Muli and other places take barnyard grass, highland barley, and corn as their staple food, supplemented by yangzi, rice, wheat, and potatoes. Villagers in Lijiang Dam area grow vegetables in front of and behind their houses for their own consumption. Most pork is made into cured meat, especially Pipa pig from Lijiang and Yongning, which is the most famous and can be preserved for several years to more than ten years without deterioration.

When working outside, bring wheat flour cakes or tsampa to the temple. Sit around the table when dining. In winter, you like to move to a sunny place to eat.

The hard-working and frugal Naxi people like to drink alcohol, strong tea, and eat sour, spicy, and sweet foods. Among the Mosuo people in Lugu Lake, both men and women like to smoke "orchid cigarettes" that are not full in size and eat homemade "Lenglima wine" with a sour taste. After killing the New Year pig every year, the housewife rushes to prepare and store the bacon. Lijiang's ham cakes, Ningbo's pipa meat, and Shanghai's sour fish and dried fish from the Hu Guihu area are all delicious and are great treats for Naxi people to entertain guests or give as gifts to relatives and friends.

Typical foods mainly include: Lijiang ham cakes, hemp cakes, snow lotus platter, Lichun copper hot pot, Lijiang fire-roasted cakes, etc.

Naxi ---- Architecture

The Naxi architecture is simple and elegant, and Sifang Street in the ancient city of Lijiang is the most representative. The entire building complex is made of earth-and-wood structures with tiled roofs. The doors, windows and archways on the buildings have intricately carved patterns with rich themes, vivid and vigorous lines, and lifelike images, showing the artistic attainments and aesthetic taste of the Naxi nation.

Lijiang Old Town is known as the "Venice of the East". The wooden houses of the Mosuo people on the banks of Lugu Lake are made of whole logs stacked up to form walls, and tree blocks are split into boards to make tiles. They have a well-dry shape. The whole house does not use a single nail or bricks. It is not only warm in winter and cool in summer, but also shockproof. Siheyuan intuitively reflects the marriage form, family organization and religious beliefs, and is a form carrier of matrilineal society.

The Naxi people - Taboo

The Naxi people have a warm and open character. It has the traditional virtues of being knowledgeable about books and etiquette, respecting the elderly and caring for the young. Avoid making loud noises or using foul language in public places. When riding a horse, you must dismount in front of the village and do not tie the horse to a place offering sacrifices to heaven. You cannot stand on a tripod or cross your legs. You cannot hit the host when entering a Naxi home. Dogs are not allowed to take the initiative to enter the bedrooms of old people, girls, or girls' "flower buildings". They are not allowed to ask about the condition of "Axia" or stir up the ashes in the stove. When offering sacrifices to heaven, ancestors, and the God of War, outsiders are not allowed to watch. Avoid sitting on the threshold or using a knife or ax to chop things on the threshold. In some places, it is forbidden to sing folk songs and whistle at home; it is forbidden to knock bowls and chopsticks, turn vegetables, or pick up vegetables continuously during meals; it is forbidden to pollute water sources, cut down water source forests, and hunt small animals that enter the house. It is not allowed to kill cattle, draft horses and roosters that announce the dawn; it is forbidden to eat dog meat.

The Naxi people----Religion

The Naxi people generally believe in "Dongba Religion", and some people believe in Lamaism.

"Dongba" is the Naxi language, which means "wise man", that is, wizards and priests. Dongba culture and Dongba religion are inseparable. Dongba religion was formed by the Naxi people in the early Tang Dynasty, based on the original witchcraft religion and absorbing the culture of Tibetan religion. Dongba people are versatile, integrating writing, painting, singing and dancing, so they have become the creators, disseminators and inheritors of the ancient Dongba culture of the Naxi people.

The Naxi people generally believe in Dongba religion (also known as "Daba" in Yongning), which is a primitive witchcraft influenced by Tibetan inscription religion (black religion) and worships many gods, mountains, rivers, wind and fire and other natural phenomena. All phenomena are regarded as gods, while the non-sick dead and enemies are regarded as evil ghosts. Whenever there is illness, weddings, funerals, festivals, etc., Dongba must be invited to chant sutras. There are no temples in Dongba, and most of them are farmers who are not out of work. The Naxi area is also the place where Buddhism (Zen) and Lamaism (Tantrism) meet. The Red Sect lamasery spreads from the Tibetan area southward to Lijiang, and the Shan monk temple spreads northward from the mainland to Lijiang. Therefore, the Naxi people also Those who believe in Buddhism, Lamaism, and Taoism constitute a nation that believes in multiple religions.

Dongba Religion is an ancient religion believed by all the Naxi people. It originated from primitive religion. It uses ancestor worship, ghost worship, and nature worship as its basic materials, including offering sacrifices to heaven, funeral rituals, exorcism, disaster relief, and divination. Activities such as hexagrams are its main forms of expression.

Dongba religion has special ritual instruments and costumes, and its rituals are also very complicated. There are ritual activities of varying sizes almost every month throughout the year, which are mainly divided into sacrifices, funerals, disaster relief, divination, and giving. There are five categories, among which worshiping heaven is the most solemn.