About Dongba Music
Dongba music is an important part of the Naxi people’s Dongba culture. It is primarily performed by Dongba priests during Dongba religious rituals, featuring chanting accompanied by instrumental music. As the core component of religious ceremonies, it is also regarded as a “living fossil” of ancient Naxi musical culture, carrying rich historical, folkloric, and spiritual significance.
There are approximately fifty types of Dongba chant melodies, all based on traditional Naxi musical styles. The instruments used mainly include wooden clappers, frame drums, gongs, and cymbals. The rhythms are simple and the notation is minimal. Dongba rituals also include instrumental performances, which, when combined with vocal chants, produce harmonized compositions with distinct rhythms and resonant tones.
Dongba music has been passed down orally and is sporadically preserved in Dongba scriptures and paintings. Except for divination texts, all Dongba scriptures are intended to be performed through chanting. Dongba chant melodies have played an irreplaceable role in preserving elements of orally transmitted scripture, and thus in preserving Dongba culture itself.
Dongba music is also a traditional performing art of the Naxi people in Yunnan Province and is known as Dongba chant performance. It is popular in the western dialect regions of the Naxi people, such as Lijiang, Zhongdian (Shangri-La), and Weixi. According to research, it originated in the mid-7th century, developed by Dongba scripture masters (priests) during rituals. Depending on the scale of the ritual and the chanting proficiency of the priest, it is divided into large, medium, and small Dongba performances. Each type of ritual has specific content and a corresponding main melody.
For example, during the wind-sacrifice ceremony, the chant Luban Lurao is performed at a slow pace with a high-pitched, ethereal melody and a far-reaching tune. It uses a lyrical tone to express the Naxi people’s sympathy for the tragic protagonist, their understanding of suffering, and their pursuit of life. In contrast, during the Heaven-sacrifice ritual, the scriptures are chanted at a moderate speed with a steady rhythm and deep tone, using a narrative vocal style to convey reverence for the gods and ancient ancestors.
During performances, the lead Dongba priest typically sits on the altar, shaking a hand drum with one hand while flipping through scripture scrolls with the other — alternating between reading and singing in cycles. Accompanying instruments include yak horns, spotted conch shells, white conch horns, large cowhide drums, hand cymbals, mang (a local wind instrument), gongs, and more.
These musical pieces are recorded in Dongba script in classic Dongba texts. It is estimated that there are around 1,600 such pieces. The contents reflect the Naxi ancestors’ worship of nature, spirits, and their forebears, and include stories of the creation of the world, demon-conquering, warfare, love, labor, customs, and traditions.
Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, several Dongba chant works—such as Genesis and Selected Translations from Dongba Classics—have been collected, edited, translated, and published. Dongba chant performances are sometimes accompanied by Dongba dance, with as few as one or two dancers or as many as dozens or even hundreds.
image from The Dongba Culture Museum of Lijiang
Cultural connotation
Dongba music is not only the core medium of religious rituals but also carries the historical memory, cosmology, and ethnic identity of the Naxi people. Its vocal content is largely derived from Dongba epics such as Genesis and The Battle of Black and White, using mythological narratives to convey the Naxi ancestors’ reflections on nature and life. The formulaic musical structure—such as fixed rhythms and repeated melodies—reflects the animistic worldview of early religions and reinforces the sacredness of the rituals.
In addition, Dongba music is closely integrated with other art forms such as dance and painting, creating a multidimensional mode of cultural expression. For instance, collective choral singing in heaven-worship rituals symbolizes ethnic unity, while the beat of exorcism drums metaphorically represents communication between humans and deities.
Today, Dongba music is both a focal point of intangible cultural heritage preservation for the Naxi people and a subject of concern due to the tension between authenticity and commercialization brought on by tourism performances.