A Pictographic Naxi Origin Myth from Southwest China: An Annotated Translation

1.This is the most comprehensive translation of a Naxi text in English to appear for over half a century. By presenting a historically important translation manuscript for both the history of missionary translation in China and for Dutch sinology, this book allows modern audiences a chance to access the unique, semi-oral ritual tradition of the Naxi via detailed annotations. 2. The Naxi source manuscript, presented in high quality images, will be complemented by digital reconstructions of each section of the text, with each graph numbered to allow readers a fuller understanding of how such semi-oral texts are read, making it the first reader of the Naxi script to be produced in English. 3. Back-translation and comparative research has allowed for the recreation of an approximation of the original early twentieth century reading given to the original translator Elise Scharten by a Naxi ritual specialist.

Table of Contents:
Introduction – Naxi writing, Naxiology and translation Part one: The source manuscript Part two: Scharten’s translation (typewritten manuscript) Part three: The annotated translation

About the Author :
Duncan Poupard is Assistant Professor in Translation at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is author of Translation/Re-creation: Southwest Chinese Naxi Manuscripts in the West (Routledge, 2021), and has published widely on the Naxi people and their script. See for example “With the power of their forefathers: Kinship between early Tibetan ritualists and the Naxi dongba of southwest China”, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, October 2020, and “Translation as Logocentric Imperialism”, Translation Studies 13:1 (2019).

Review :
This manuscript offers some very innovative and exciting ways of appreciating the Naxi ritual texts for what they are – a sort of writing that is intimately connected to oral tradition. This is actually factor of a good deal of “local” or ethnic writing in the diverse ethnic minority communities in China, and aspects of this study will inform the study of not only the Naxi tradition of writing, ritual, and performance but that of other regional traditions awe well (including Yi, She, etc.) and may even have global ramifications with other writing traditions with strong ritual/oral connections such as Mayan and various epic traditions in India, the Middle East, etc. Overall, the language of the manuscript is easy to follow and flows well, despite the introduction of certain specialist terminology (essential to conveying the author’s points). This work is an important landmark in the study of traditional Naxi literature from Southwest China. The author offers a masterfully rendered version of a key origin narrative of the Naxi people of Lijiang, Yunnan. The text, which narrates the origins and early migrations of humankind, was translated by a Dutch missionary named Elise Scharten in the early 20th century. Over 100 years later, the author, working with Naxi dongba ritualists, has created a modern annotated translation that will be welcomed by students of Chinese ethnic minority literature, Indigenous studies, and orality and writing studies worldwide. Mark Bender, Professor of Chinese Literature and Folklore, Chair, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University.