Reading Between Cultures : Social Anthropology and the Interpretation of Naxi ( Na - khi ) Religious Texts

The main theme of the thesis is to interpret Naxi (Na-khi) religious texts from a historical and a comparative perspective in the social and cultural context in the region of south-west China. There are two parts: Part I. Social Anthropology and the study of the Tibeto-Burman-speaking peoples; Part II. Naxi writing and the interpretation of Naxi religious texts. Part I (Chapters 1 to 5) focuses on the theoretical aspect of social anthropology and how the problems in the study of the Tibeto-Burman peoples and Naxi religious texts can best be approached. Chapters 1 to 2 are the discussion of the theories in social anthropology, their relation with history and the meanings of history. Post-modern criticism of colonial anthropology is acknowledged. The study of Naxi religious texts is recognised as a special kind of ethnography, that is to study a culture from a distance. A textual approach is feasible where history and anthropology are combined to study a culture. Chapters 3 to 5 on one level of comparison form some comparative examination of the scholarship of social anthropology and of the cultural elite tradition in China, as related to the study of the Tibeto-Burman peoples. On another level these chapters form a historical ethnographic survey of the Tibeto-Burman peoples and their relationship with the Han Chinese. The cases discussed are the kinship of the Naxi/Moso peoples and the Han Chinese in ideological terms, the cultural identities of the Naxi/Moso and the Tibeto-Burman peoples in the region. Part II (Chapter 6 to 8) focuses on the interpretation of Naxi religious texts. This covers four aspects in the texts: 1.The question of Naxi pictographs and the writing in the region. The nature of the variety of writing in the region, with reference to the origin of Naxi pictographs (Chapter 6). 2. A discussion on the relation between Naxi religion and Tibetan Bon religion, through a comparison between the legendary spiritual leaders of the two religions, a brief history of Tibetan religion and 3. The authors of the texts identified through a stylistic comparison of the texts, the ritual practitioners, the dto-mba , the ritual activities and the dating of the texts discussed through the analysis of authorship and other sources and the problem of kinship in Naxi society in history in relation to the religious texts (Chapter 7). 4. The question of translating the pictographic texts: how to read the texts, the nature of the pictographs, interpretation and comparison in the question of translation (Chapter 8). The main argument of the thesis is that Naxi religious texts are interpretable through anthropological-historical approaches and that textual studies can enrich the scope of ethnographic writing in social anthropology. The specific problems solved or clarified are the social and cultural identity of the Naxi/Moso peoples, the dating of the texts, the nature of the ritual activities and the translation/interpretation of the texts.