The self-declaration of Naxi people varies with dialects: Lijiang and other places call themselves Naxi, while Ninglang and Yanyuan in Sichuan call themselves Nari, Naru or Naheng. According to Naxi language analysis, "Na" means "big" or "noble", while "xi", "Confucianism" and "Heng" mean "people" or "clan". 1954, according to the national wishes and with the approval of the State Council, the Naxi nationality was adopted as the common national name.
Naxi people have their own language and writing. Naxi language belongs to Yi branch of Tibeto-Burman language family of Sino-Tibetan language family, which is roughly divided into two dialects with Jinsha River as the boundary. Dialects can't communicate with each other, but the standard language of Naxi is the western dialect of Naxi as the basic dialect, and the pronunciation of Dayan Town in Lijiang County as the standard sound. In the long historical process of Naxi nationality, there used to be Dongba language and Goba language. Dongba is a hieroglyph created by Naxi people more than 1000 years ago (before the Tang Dynasty). It is composed of hieroglyphics, phonetic symbols and additional symbols, and it is the only living hieroglyphics still circulating among the people in the world today.
The social and economic development of Naxi nationality areas is unbalanced, just like most ethnic minorities in Yunnan. Before the founding of the Republic, the Naxi nationality inhabited area in Lijiang County was a feudal landlord economy, and capitalist industry and commerce appeared. Some areas in Zhongdian County still retain the remnants of the Lord's economy; Ninglang is basically still in the stage of feudal Lord economy, maintaining the remnants of pairing marriage and matriarchal family.
In the long-term historical development, the Naxi people have created splendid culture with their own characteristics, and formed and developed their own religious beliefs and customs. Dongba culture of Naxi nationality is unique among all ethnic groups in Yunnan and is the pride of Naxi nationality. For example, Dongba is of great academic value for studying comparative philology and human cultural history. On the one hand, Dongbajing preserves many ancient words, which is an excellent material for historical comparison between Naxi language and other related languages, on the other hand, it records a large number of ancient Naxi documents.
With the development of Dongba culture, Naxi people have learned and absorbed the advanced cultures of other nationalities, especially the Han nationality, thus enriching their own cultural and artistic traditions and contents. Since the Ming Dynasty, the aristocratic landlords headed by Li Jiang Tusi first accepted China culture, and they all wrote poems. For example, Mu Gong once wrote "Selected Poems of Snow Mountain", and Mu once wrote poems such as "Clouds are light and ink is light".
Naxi people generally live in dam areas, river valleys and semi-mountainous areas. Most of the houses in the dam area are tile houses with civil structure, and the pattern is "three rooms and one wall". In mountainous areas, most of them are low wooden houses covered with boards. In the marriage and family of Naxi nationality, monogamy is practiced in most areas. In the old society, marriage was decided by parents, and they were free to socialize before marriage. The Mosuo people around Lugu Lake in Ninglang still retain the remnants of matriarchal families and pairing marriages. With the implementation of the Marriage Law, some ancient marriage customs are gradually changing.
Naxi people are good at singing and dancing, and there are often mass singing and dancing activities in productive labor and national festivals. Ancient traditional song and dance tunes include Hello Maida (Lijiang), Huocuogui (Yongning), Yahaoli (White Land) and Ohre (Lijiang Dadong). Folk musical instruments are mainly Hulusheng, bamboo string and straight flute.