Signs of Ancient China...Pictographic Characters

It is rather unusual, but the past seems to be ever so present in Yunnan Province. When we were in Lijiang, we noticed that there were still pictographic characters in use  by the Naxi ethnic minority. These pictorial representations of language had been created a thousand or more years ago. They called it the 'Dongba' script. The creative writing of the Naxi people throughout history had been recorded in the 'Dongba' and the 'Geba' script which was a syllabic writing system. Can you imagine the cave walls covered with poems, legends and myths. Beats having to put up new wall-paper every few years or so!


Although today the Naxi minority people use written and spoken Chinese, I guess it is a matter of pride, and keeping the heritage alive, that 'Dongba' can still be seen such as in the contexts pictured below:



Exhibited - At the entrance to the Lijiang Impressions Show:

I guess the middle character would logically mean fisherman/fishing. He seems to be casting a net.

Messages left for the dieties to read: these messages are written on wishing-windchimes and hung out in the open hoping for the wishes to come true. Somewhat similar to tossing a coin in the fountain.

...some messages were for  good luck and good health for loved ones, some people wished for the gift of a newborn, some were general in nature. This one on the post had been translated into English. It appears to be a sociological sign of the times.

Warning for teenage girls...wash your hair before you go on a date, ( that seems to be the secret for getting pregnant?)

The best I've seen were iconic but a little perplexing. 

Why the scissors? Meat is well-represented. The chicken? Looks like goat, don't you think?

If you want to see more interesting signs, click on Lesley's link below: 

http://signs2.blogspot.com